South Africa’s wine industry takes an important step forward with the launch of the country’s first Eco-Flat Wine Bottle, pioneered by Stellenbosch Vineyards in collaboration with Polyoak Packaging, global packaging innovator Packamama, and polymer producer Safripol. This new packaging format introduces a sustainable, lightweight alternative to traditional glass bottles while creating new commercial opportunities for South Africa’s wine sector, both locally and abroad.
A first for South Africa’s wine industry
With this launch, Stellenbosch Vineyards becomes the first wine producer in South Africa to pioneer the Eco-Flat Wine Bottle, setting a benchmark for innovative and responsible packaging in the industry. The bottle is manufactured locally in Cape Town by Polypet, part of Polyoak Packaging, using Packamama’s patented flat-bottle design.
Designed specifically for efficiency and sustainability, the Eco-Flat Wine Bottle weighs just 63 grams, up to 80% lighter than the average glass bottle, helping to reduce transport emissions while maintaining wine quality and shelf life.
Impactful shelf appeal
The 750ml Eco-Flat Wine Bottle features a screw-top bottleneck, ensuring compatibility with familiar wine closures while maintaining a contemporary design. Its distinctive flat shape gives the bottle a larger front-facing visual footprint than traditional glass bottles, allowing brands to stand out more prominently on retail shelves.
In addition to enhanced shelf presence, the design allows twice as many bottles to fit per shelf, improving retail space utilisation. The format is also 40% more space-efficient per pallet than glass. These efficiencies contribute to lower carbon emissions and a reduced carbon footprint, reinforcing the sustainability benefits of the eco-flat design.
Sustainable materials and smart design
Packamama’s iconic flat bottle shape is produced using 25% recycled PET (rPET) plastic supplied by Safripol. The bottle delivers a lower carbon footprint than traditional glass while offering a shatterproof and lightweight solution for wine producers and consumers alike. The bottle and closure are also recyclable, to drive the circular economy and contribute to the wine industry’s broader sustainability goals.
The bottles are available in dead leaf green and colourless formats and can be paired with a range of closure colours, offering flexibility for different wine styles and brand preferences. An integrated oxygen barrier provides a shelf life of around two years, making the format ideal for all still wines for everyday enjoyment.
New market opportunities
The distinctive flat design allows bottles to be cross-packed and flat-packed, improving space efficiency by 40% during storage and transportation. Due to the streamlined bottle shape, twelve 750ml bottles fit in a case, compared to six glass bottles. This unlocks significant logistics savings.
For South African wine producers, this innovation opens incremental export opportunities, particularly for markets where lightweight packaging is advantageous.
Obvious opportunities include the airline industry as the bottles fit snugly into in-flight trolleys. It is also ideal for online shopping as its compact shape and robust material make it easy and safe for online delivery.
This bottle is also perfect for outdoor events, picnics, hiking, concerts and festivals, which often ban glass due to safety concerns. It has already gained traction in overseas markets by outselling glass in Europe, and local research shows that 70% of South African millennials and female consumers are likely to purchase this innovative wine format.
As sustainability continues to shape global wine markets, the introduction of South Africa’s first Eco-Flat Wine Bottle represents a practical and scalable packaging solution for producers seeking to reduce their environmental impact while unlocking new distribution opportunities.
For further information, please contact Roger Kerr at roger.kerr@polyoak.co.za or 021 710 9200.