Carlsberg Britvic upgrades drink packaging to boost delivery efficiency and sustainability

Carlsberg Britvic has partnered with DS Smith to upgrade the packaging for its drinks to a new ‘bag-in-box’ design.

The new eight-sided packaging is stronger and more durable, and means an average of 25% more boxes can be loaded onto each pallet.

This should reduce the number of pallets and lorries required annually for the 115-mile journey between Carlsberg Britvic’s manufacturing site in Leeds and the national distribution centre in Lutterworth.

As well as contributing to carbon emissions reduction, and therefore reducing scope 3 emissions for operators, the upgraded packaging also optimises warehouse storage space and reduces the risk of leakage.

Carlsberg Britvic’s existing carbon reduction measures include 75% of the grid electricity used to make its soft drinks in the UK coming from solar panels, and more than £9m invested in carbon-cutting technology at its soft drinks factories in the past three years.

Tom Fiennes, sustainability director at Carlsberg Britvic, said: “Every year Carlsberg Britvic produces more than 25 million litres of soft drinks to be served on dispense in pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants – and we couldn’t do this without high-quality, innovative packaging.

“The new OTOR8 bag in box from DS Smith means sturdier packaging for our customers, reduced storage space for everyone and, from Pepsi Max and 7Up to Tango and R White’s lemonade, reduced carbon emissions – another milestone in Carlsberg Britvic’s journey to net-zero carbon emissions.”

Britvic delivered strong results for the Carlsberg group in the second quarter of this year, following completion of the £3.3b acquisition in January.

The deal made the UK the Carlsberg Group’s largest market by revenue in the world, as well as creating the largest multi-beverage supplier in the UK.

Earlier this year, Carlsberg Britvic’s Tim Downes, category, revenue growth management and insights director said the business is “open to exploring emerging spaces” and further expanding in the drinks market.