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Label-less Bottle Puts Focus on Wine, Not Waste

New wine brand Crate forgoes bottle labels to reduce packaging waste, creating a sparse but still eye-catching package that complements the brand’s sustainable positioning.

By removing the label from the body of the wine bottle, Fourth Wave Wine has eliminated the paper, the adhesives, and the PET liner resulting from the label.
By removing the label from the body of the wine bottle, Fourth Wave Wine has eliminated the paper, the adhesives, and the PET liner resulting from the label.

With its new Crate brand, Australian wine maker Fourth Wave Wine has put zero waste at the core—from vineyard sourcing and winemaking techniques to its boldly unique, label-less package for wine. According to Rowena Curlewis, chief executive officer and co-founder of Denomination, the designer of the label-free bottle, the impetus for the new brand came from Fourth Wave Wine’s own dedication to creating a greener future.

“As a business, Fourth Wave Wine has sustainability at its heart,” she says. “It felt there was an opportunity for another sustainability-based player in the market, given how important this aspect is to Gen Z and millennial consumers particularly, but also to those consumers who are concerned about the environment, and there are a lot of them!”

Crate was introduced in February 2023 in three varietals: McLaren Vale Shiraz, Barossa Shiraz, and Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon. They are described by Fourth Wave Wine as high-quality, barrel-matured wines from Australia’s leading red wine regions. And that’s where Fourth Wave Wine wants consumers to put their focus and their dollars—on the wine, rather than on the packaging.

All mandatory information is printed on the skirt of the capsule, which remains on the bottle once it’s opened, while the top of the capsule is devoted to branding.All mandatory information is printed on the skirt of the capsule, which remains on the bottle once it’s opened, while the top of the capsule is devoted to branding.By removing the label from the body of the wine bottle, Fourth Wave Wine has eliminated the paper, therefore saving trees; adhesives, reducing waste; and the PET liner from the label, removing petroleum-based plastics from the package. It has also eliminated the cost and time associated with applying the label. Ultimately, the label-free bottle conveys the eco-friendly nature of the brand while making the product more affordable.

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