Piramal Glass sees demand grow for short-run specialty spirits bottles

The company which has offices in India, Sri Lanka and the US focuses on beverage packaging and is looking to expand in Europe in the high-end spirits market next year.

Growth in Gin

Speaking to BeverageDaily at LuxePack Monaco (September 30-October 2) Vijay Shah, vice chairman, Piramal Glass, said his clients include Diageo, Bacardi and Pernod Ricard and all his customers want better quality, lower prices and sustainable processes.

“Our focus is on specialty spirits manufacturing we are not a special glass manufacturer for long-run, repeat business. We produce customised bottles for high-end spirits​,” he said.

“The trends we see are more craft distillers, and the launch of more specialty spirits. We have seen growth in local gin brands in Scotland, and more US craft distillers with local brands and they all need specialised glass bottles to be stand out from the crowd​.

“Bacardi and Diageo are launching more specialty liquors, people want more variety. Bombay gin has also launched a range of pre-mixed drinks​.”

Ready To Drink

As an example, Diageo partnered with Zola, a wedding company, to launch a line of spirits from its Ketel One Botanical series, Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, Tequila Don Julio and Johnnie Walker, this year, where guests can customize the bottles with personal engravings and gift cards.

"The bar is an important wedding moment that can sometimes be overlooked, and we hope to help inspire couples with a myriad of ideas for special experiences and gifts with our new partnership with Zola,​" said Amy Schmidt, director, Strategic Partnerships, Diageo North America.

In September this year, Bombay Sapphire launched a gin and tonic RTD (Ready To Drink) beverage in Australia.

The gin category is growing at a massive 40% compared to last year, driven by premium and super-premium segments plus innovation, while gin ready-to-drink grew by 64% in retail sales over 2018/2019 alone.

“There are more people trying gin for the first time than ever before – the ready-to-drink format plays a key recruitment role into glass spirits, increasing gin penetration and basket spend among shoppers​,” a Bombay Sapphire spokesman said.

Mauricio Vergara Herrera, MD, Bacardi Martini Australia added: “Consumers are looking for premium drinks in convenient formats that fit their lifestyles. With the explosion of Gin and premiumisation in Australia it’s exciting to see this innovation from Bombay Sapphire as the leading premium gin​.”