Diageo trials spirits dispense system for on-trade
Johnnie Walker owner Diageo has introduced Everpour, its first in-house-led bespoke circular keg and dispense system for the on-trade.
The British firm has initially launched the ‘innovative’ new keg and integrated bottle dispense system with Smirnoff vodka in selected bars in and around Dublin, Ireland.
The seven participating sites in the trial will use stainless-steel kegs in five or 17.5 litre sizes of Smirnoff, with four dispensing options available to best suit the bar environment.
The bespoke technology automatically refills the bottle of Smirnoff once it is placed in the Everpour unit, and once the keg is empty, it is collected, cleaned and refilled by Diageo before being re-distributed to participating bars.
After its long lifespan, the unit will be collected by Diageo and separated for recycling.
Each keg is anticipated to reduce the use of a minimum of 500 single-use 700ml glass bottles, as well as a potential reduction in carbon emissions by more than 50% per litre of Smirnoff.
Furthermore it is expected to reduce the time needed to switch out and dispose of empty bottles while also minimising the storage space needed for Smirnoff bottles.
Stephanie Jacoby, Diageo’s global vodka senior vice president, said: “We’re really excited that Smirnoff is the leading brand on Everpour as we know how important it is to combine convenience for our bartenders and sustainability for our company. We continually push the boundaries of what’s traditional in the drinks trade and look forward to learning more about circularity through this exciting trial.”
This trial is the latest sustainability initiative announced as part of a wider drive across Diageo to reduce the carbon emissions of its key brands.
Dave Lutkenhaus, global sustainability innovation director at Diageo, commented: “This a huge milestone for Diageo to be trialing our first bespoke Diageo-led developed circular economy system for spirits in the on-trade. We’ve designed the system building on the years of insights we have from the on-trade with the aim for Everpour to be convenient and desirable for bartenders to use, whilst reducing our carbon emissions.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the results from the trial to take into our next round of product development.”
The Everpour trial will run for six weeks and will assess technical feasibility of the Everpour system while gathering customer and consumer feedback. The results from the trial will be assessed and integrated into future versions of Everpour before further expected trials.
Last year we unpacked the buzzwords when it comes to sustainability in spirits.
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