Smurfit Kappa unveils innovative new packaging portfolio for online beverage market

The surge in e-commerce due to the Covid-19 pandemic is evident across all sectors and the beverage market has also seen a significant impact. In particular, online sales for alcoholic beverages has increased by 34% in Europe driving a demand for sustainable, durable and consumer friendly packaging that protects the product during shipment.

Key challenges for the beverage e-commerce channel are product damage, sustainability, consumer experience and the ability to accelerate growth using the right packing processes. Consumer research carried out by Smurfit Kappa also shows consumers are continuing to push for higher standards.

The research found :
- Over two thirds (69%) of consumers prefer paper-based packaging
- Over half (59%) of consumers want the parcel to be easy to open
- 1 in 10 consumers will reconsider re-ordering in the case of damage

Commenting on the announcement, Arco Berkenbosch, VP Innovation and Development at Smurfit Kappa Europe said: “Our new eBottle product range offers beverage businesses a suite of fit-for-purpose and bespoke packaging solutions which address the key challenges for their e-commerce channel. The innovative range, combined with our focus on e-commerce processes, supply chain and consumer experience, have all contributed to increased sales and greater efficiencies for our customers.”

Smurfit Kappa also offers a host of automated solutions to optimise packaging processes in addition to the eBottle range. The launch of this new product portfolio is the latest addition to its range of Better Planet Packaging, designed to be more sustainable and coming from a renewable and recyclable raw material. Businesses are already benefitting in the alcoholic beverage segment.

InterDrinks is an eMerchant selling more than 2,500 different types of beers and beer products. Smurfit Kappa introduced a flexible and unique packaging solution that accommodates all the various sized products sold by InterDrinks. It also includes automated assembly that mounts the packs as required.

Herwin Wichers, Market Development Director at Smurfit Kappa said: “The online European alcohol beverage market is worth €5.6 billion and we want to help companies take advantage of the real growth and opportunity in this segment. As a result of the implemented packaging and automation solution by InterDrinks, it has increased its packing and filling capacity by 66%, allowing it to fulfill more orders, faster.”