As many craft distilleries struggle to grow demand, Half Shell Vodka, Santa Rosa Beach, Fla., has been able to expand its distribution across the country to California and Colorado. CEO and Founder Harrison Holditch says there’s been one main reason for his company’s success: its decision to try a daring new kind of bottle for its spirits, one made mostly of paper.

 

Paper bottles have long been the dream of many companies in the beverage industry. They are seen to have enormous sustainability advantages over more traditional types of containers. Glass bottles are much heavier, resulting in an increased carbon footprint when it comes to shipping. While the pollution resulting from plastic bottles has become top of mind for many consumers.

 

The only problem is that paper-based bottles have been promised for the past several years by a variety of major beverage brands. And yet, for the most part, such bottles remain in trials and have yet to reach retail shelves.

 

That is, until now.

 

As Half Shell has shown, paper bottles are officially here. And this distillery is not alone. In the past year, paper-based wine bottles have begun to appear on the shelves of Target stores across the country, and more recently, 7-Eleven’s.

 

And in the next year or so, different kinds of paper bottles made from molded fiber will join these, opening the door for increased varieties when it comes to shapes, sizes, and decoration.
It really does look like the dream of paper bottles is becoming a reality.

 

Frugalpac leads the race
There are several major players in the race to bring paper bottles to the market. But the one that has taken the lead so far when it comes to beverages is the United Kingdom-based Frugalpac with its Frugal Bottle, which is the one Half Shell Vodka has been using.

 

The Frugal Bottle is comprised of a paperboard shell with a plastic liner inside to provide barrier protection for the liquid. At the end of use, the consumer has to break apart the bottle and separate the two materials for recycling. Critics say that’s not ideal when it comes to sustainability, but more on that a bit later.

 

Half Shell’s CEO, Holditch, says it was the uniqueness of premium spirits packaged in a paper bottle that landed it a meeting with major US beverage distributor, Breakthru Beverage Group, thus opening for it the markets of California and Colorado.

 

“It absolutely differentiates us in the market, which is huge in the industry that we’re a part of,” Holditch says. “It’s allowing us to get more into a cult like niche following of people. The way I describe it is we’re not the Coca-Cola brand, we’re more of a Mountain Dew brand. We have our loyal drinkers, all that kind of stuff. And we really like that space that we’re in, where we get to be a part of some really fun events.”

 

For example, during Super Bowl 59 in Louisiana, the company participated in the restoration of an oyster shell reef off the coast. “They reused oyster shells and made them into a 59-ton reef to try and help stop erosion there in Louisiana,” he says.

 

Being part of the sustainable solution places companies like Half Shell Vodka precisely where most consumers are today. In fact, 86% of consumers expect brands to play a crucial role in driving positive change, and 77% of consumers lose respect for brands that put profit before planet, according to PA Consulting’s Brand Impact Index.

 

Other paths towards paper bottles
PA Consulting has launched an initiative called The Bottle Collective with PulPac, a Swedish company that has developed dry-molded fiber technology to create a different form of bottle. Manufacturers of molded fiber bottles say they allow for more design flexibility, including embossing, debossing, and other decorative effects.
“How do you drive premium when everything looks the same? And that’s a key thing that we designed into ours,” says Jamie Stone, partner with PA Consulting, who likens it to how Coke’s iconic contour bottle is instantly recognizable with consumers. “Structural brand language is absolutely key," he adds, because without that, “you end up driving towards the commodity side, where you’re then selling value. And I want these to be premium, at least in their concept.”

 

Frugalpac CEO Malcolm Waugh says the company has “learned to shape paper and so can offer a range of customized Frugal Bottle shapes and sizes to any company who wishes to invest in the Frugal Bottle assembly machine.”

 

Also, some, though not all, of the molded fiber bottles do away with the plastic liner inside, instead opting for various formulations that coat the inside of the bottles with a thin barrier to protect the liquid inside from oxygen degradation. Advocates say many consumers do not take the time to break down the paper-based bottles with liners to separate the materials for recycling. (See video for a Frugalpac’s machinery and end-of-life liner separation:)

 

Progress at Diageo, Absolut, PepsiCo
Other producers of molded fiber bottles include NBCo and Pulpex. NBCo recently attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, where it displayed its molded fiber bottles for attendees. “Part of the reason why we launched at Davos is to induce trial,” says NBCo’s CEO, Alvin Lim. There, NBCo launched its Fast Forward 50 program in which companies can collaborate for a market-ready bottle.

 

Pulpex was spun out of Diageo as a standalone company, yet the beverage company still retains part ownership. “We took the longer technical, challenging path of working on the mechanical engineering to make a bottle that has a beautifully smooth inside, so you can actually then spray and coat chemistry on the inside, rather than put preformed polymer bags inside,” says Scott Winston, managing director & chief science and sustainability officer.

 

Pulpex’s first factory goes online in April 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland, and plans to produce 40 million of these bottles each year, says Winston, adding that aside from part-owner Diageo, Pulpex currently has partnerships with others, including PepsiCo.

 

Of course, no discussion of a beverage bottle would be complete without including the very thing that tops it off: the closure. And just recently, there’s been progress in this area, too.

 

In late June, Absolut announced a successful trial of the industry’s first paper-based cap and bottle duo as part of the company’s ongoing vision to create a fully biobased bottle. The cap is a collaboration with Blue Ocean Closures, a Swedish start-up that has formed a pioneer community to reduce plastics through fiber packaging innovation.

 

Frugal Bottles are a hit at Target, 7-11
As these molded fiber companies set their sights on coming to market, the solution from Frugalpac continues to rack up sales on store shelves.

 

Aside from the success Half Shell Vodka has had with the package, Target stores rolled out wine in Frugal Bottles under its store brand Collective Good this past April, to tie in with Earth Month. The 750ml bottles retail for $9.99 and are available in four varieties, each sourced from a different winery with its own unique sustainability story that the paper bottle helps highlight and reinforce.

 

The project is a collaboration between the retailer, importer LWX Wines, and manufacturer Monterey Wine Co., based in California.

 

And LWX has also partnered with 7-Eleven to launch the convenience store chain’s own Frugal Bottle-packaged wines under its own Nature’s Grace brand. They will retail for $12.99 a bottle. Already in about 1,800 stores in California, 7-Eleven is in talks with LWX to roll it out to more states.

 

Helping Frugal Bottle expand its business on this side of the Atlantic in the past year is that two manufacturers are now churning out the bottles in North America: the aforementioned Monterey, and also KinsBrae Packaging Group in Ontario. Prior to these, early adopters like Half Shell had to have these bottles shipped from the UK — not optimal when the message is about reducing carbon footprint.

 

“We’ve sold three Frugal Bottle assembly machines to Canada, California, and Australia, with further interest around the world, including India, where we’ll soon be launching the first paper bottle for an Indian brand,” says Frugalpac CEO Waugh. “Our main business focus is selling the machines so they can be sited closer to the filling and bottling in each country and so reduce carbon further by not shipping empty bottles of air.”

 

Works in progress
For now, some packaging designers are adapting a wait-and-see approach when it comes to paper bottles. “I’m optimistic, but cautious,” says David Schuemann, owner and creative principal, CF Napa Brand Design. “I think the innovation around these sorts of bottles will continue to improve, and I’d love to design one of these.”
Schuemann says he is attracted to paper bottles’ low carbon footprint due to their light weight and that they can be used in places where glass is not welcome. “I think they stand out as something different and could pique some curiosity with consumers, which could help brands stand out from the crowd of glass,” he says.
Half Shell Vodka’s Holditch couldn’t agree more. He says his sales keep rising and credits the gamble they took on the paper bottle. He smiles when recalling the experiences of watching consumers express hesitancy at first, until they pick up the bottle and experience it firsthand. “You see their eyes get real wide, and they’re like, ‘wait, the whole thing’s paper? There’s no glass in it at all? This is awesome, such a great idea.’ It’s fun seeing people react that way,” he says.

 

As a paper bottle pioneer, Half Shell’s experience with the bottle has served as a testing ground with Holditch regularly providing feedback from the field to Waugh in the UK, and also their supplier, KinsBrae Packaging Group.

 

The feedback has proven valuable as KinsBrae, for example, continues to make slight improvements. “We have modified the top nozzle to have different closure options as well as the board to be more environmentally friendly,” says Shawn Bonnick, the company’s president. “All around, we needed to evolve it to be easier to use and maximize the environmental impact savings.”

 

Adds Holditch, “I’m really excited for the future of what we're doing and the story that we're creating. I think you’re just seeing the start of this.”