PARIS 15 December 2023 ecoSPIRITS France and La Maison du Whisky (LMDW) have launched a new circular retail initiative in France, offering a spirits refill solution for premium and exclusive spirits within the retail sector. This new initiative, marking the first time the ecoSPIRITS closed loop technology has been made available to retailers in Europe, has initially been introduced in select LMDW-owned retail outlets in the Paris region. It will later be made available to more than 100 spirits retail outlets supplied by LMDW across the country, before being offered to other off-trade retailers in France from early 2024. The programme features limited-edition spirit brands which have been produced specifically for the collaboration and which cannot be purchased in a traditional glass bottle format. The refill solution was developed in response to France’s anti-waste law ‘Loi AGEC’, which requires products to be accompanied by information about their sustainability and circularity.
Spirits are dispensed in-store to consumers via SmartPour 2.0S technology, with three bottles sizes to choose from.
The spirits will be delivered to the retailers in ecoTOTE™ format and dispensed in-store to consumers via SmartPour™ 2.0S technology. The units have been produced in a bronze colour to reflect the appearance of a copper pot still, specifically for the retail sector. Consumers can choose from three sizes of specially-branded reusable bottles: a 20CL tester size, 50CL or 70CL. They are encouraged to fill their own bottles with their chosen spirit directly from the SmartPour, and attach a label and bottle cap to complete the purchase. The wooden bottle cap is screen-printed with the ecoSPIRITS logo.
Consumers fill their own bottles directly from the SmartPour and attach a label and bottle seal.
The initial spirits taking part in this project are: Compass Box Synthesis (Blended Scotch Whisky), Christian Drouin Verger Sauvage gin, Renegade Hope rhum agricole, and Amorik single malt whisky. These have all been produced in small batches specifically for this project and when stocks run out, they will be replaced by new special release spirits, including seasonal variants.
The Retail Program Lineup
Compass Box Synthesis
The result of blending two single grain whiskies and two single malts from the Highlands and Speyside areas of Scotland. The blend evolves on the palate, with peat becoming more prominent, while herbaceous and fruity tones are also present.
Christian Drouin Verger Sauvage
A distilled gin from France, which has been inspired by a cider apple orchard. This natural, verdant environment is a world which led to the creation of Christian Drouin’s ‘Verger Sauvage”, made from apples, quinces and a wide variety of wildflowers.
Renegade Hope
This Rhum Agricole is made from pure sugarcane juice. It is a small batch blend of pot-still rums which is aged for 18 months in three different casks, new American oak, American first fill oak and French first fill oak. The flavours evolve elegantly, highlighting the controlled ageing process.
Amorik
Amorik Single Malt Whisky was created exclusively for LMDW at the brand’s Warenghem distillery, known for being a pioneering whisky-making site in France. This Spanish oak-aged Amorik ventures into bitter, fruity, malty, spicy and intensely chocolatey flavours.
Constance Moreau-Luchaire, Senior Marketing Manager & Project Management Officer, La Maison du Whisky
“In a retail setting, ecoSPIRITS will enable the offering of bulk spirits while placing at the core of the process: eco-responsibility, experimental elements, and very high-quality spirit in small batches.”
Iain McPherson, Sales Director, EMEA, ecoSPIRITS
“I am thrilled to see the launch of this retail campaign, which will provide discerning consumers across France the opportunity to purchase wonderful products and contribute to the circular economy. LMDW has worked with hundreds of on-trade venues in France to help them adopt ecoSPIRITS’ closed loop technology. And now, thanks to its hard work, the company – together with the ecoSPIRITS Product team – has developed a smart solution for the retail sector, which I am sure will intrigue and inspire customers across the country.”
The France retail collaboration forms part of ecoSPIRITS’ ongoing trials of circular solutions for the off-premise in the spirits industry. It follows the development of the SmartKiosk, which is an intelligent retail system, designed to tackle single use glass waste from at-home spirits consumption. The SmartKiosk, which is currently featuring in a pilot project in CS Fresh supermarket outlets in Singapore, allows consumers to securely refill spirits bottles in retail environments.
For more information about ecoSPIRITS in France, please contact [email protected] or contact Iain McPherson, ecoSPIRITS Sales Director for EMEA, on [email protected]. For media enquiries or general information on ecoSPIRITS, you may contact Sonya Hook, Senior PR Manager at [email protected].
About La Maison du Whisky
Founded in 1956 by Georges Bénitah, La Maison du Whisky has long been a market leader in fine spirits. With more than 200 employees, LMDW’s expertise spans spirits import and distribution, rare spirits collection, sourcing and discovery, events management and publishing. Their event, ‘Whisky Live’ is the world’s premium whisky show, hosted each year in Paris and other cities around the world. These broad capabilities will strengthen the ecoSPIRITS France platform and help drive scale in circular spirits in one of the world’s largest spirits markets.
For more information, please visit: www.lmdw.com.
About ecoSPIRITS
ecoSPIRITS is a circular economy technology company that has developed the world’s first low carbon, low waste distribution technology for premium spirits and wine. Our patent-pending closed loop system nearly eliminates all packaging waste in the supply chain. By dramatically reducing packaging and transport, ecoSPIRITS provides a transformative carbon footprint reduction. Founded in Singapore in 2018, the ecoSPIRITS technology is now available in more than 23 countries across Asia Pacific, Europe and the Americas. More than 2,000 leading bars, restaurants, hotels and retailers have adopted the technology, including Michelin-starred restaurants, World’s 50 Best and Asia’s 50 Best bars and iconic hotels. ecoSPIRITS is now rapidly building a global network of closed loop service, with coverage to grow to 27 countries worldwide by early 2024. Together with our brand partners, importers, distributors, wholesalers, venues, and retailers, we are already making a difference. Each year, ecoSPIRITS and our partners are eliminating hundreds of tons of single use glass waste, planting tens of thousands of trees, and inspiring others to change.
For more information, please visit: www.ecospirits.global.