From 2030, a pretty bottle is not a legal reason for extra glass
Politico reported from Plogoff and Saverglass: EU packaging law will force the least glass that still ships safely. Marketing is not an excuse. Champagne as a GI is safer than a new still-wine shape with no trademark.
A bottle is not wrapping. For a lot of drinks, it is the face.
Politico reported from Plogoff in Brittany. Emmanuel Ladent, president of Saverglass, has made Grey Goose’s frosted bottle for twenty years. “Tomorrow, if everyone has the same bottle, the story of Grey Goose vodka won't exist anymore.”
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation passed in 2024. From 2030, companies must use the least material that still lets a product travel and sell safely in the EU. Marketing and design, on their own, do not justify extra weight. The Commission says that cuts volume without killing function.
Carlo Pirrone of FEVE, the European container-glass federation: “If you think of Amaretto Disaronno, Amaretto Disaronno is the bottle.” Glassmakers fear a skinny, identical bottle that cheaper plants outside Europe can copy faster.
Carve-outs exist. A shape trademarked in the EU before the law, if changing it would wreck distinctiveness, can stay. Grey Goose. Coca-Cola’s hourglass. Geographical indications too: Irish whiskey, French Champagne. That is the wine fact. Champagne as Champagne is safer than a new heavy Bordeaux bottle nobody registered.
Small distillers and anyone launching a new shape have no shield. Etienne Jacques at Moby Dick in Plogoff uses a heavy bottle so people keep it, and buys them back for a euro to refill. He does not hate a lighter bottle for the climate. He hates a world where every bottle looks the same.
Brussels already blinked once. Commission guidance last June said design is part of function. The 2030 standard is the real fight.
Mini-concept: a GI or a trademark can keep a famous shape. A pretty new bottle cannot argue its way out of less glass.
A flavoured can was never a shape. These bottles either stay recognisable or they get the skinny EU default.
Remember: from 2030, marketing is not a legal reason for extra glass.
Source: Politico