Global beer brand Corona has unveiled a new environmentally-friendly form of packaging - using surplus barley straw.
Ground-breaking technology allows barley - an essential beer ingredient - a new use as a sustainable packaging solution.
Barley seed will continue to make the beer that consumers know and love. But barley straw, a leftover from farmers' harvests, will now be used through a unique pulping process built to handle its relative fragility.
Combined with 100 per cent recycled wood fibers, this process creates a paper board to produce new packaging that is as strong and durable as a regular six-pack, but better for the planet – able to carry six cold beer bottles from the store fridge to the beach, but using far fewer resources along the way.
AB InBev, Corona’s parent company, will review rolling out the technology to other brands.
Felipe Ambra, Global Vice President of Marketing, Corona, said: “Corona is a brand born at the beach. We’re deeply connected with nature and appreciate all that it has to offer, so we want to continue to do our part to protect it.
"We assessed where we could make changes within our production and supply chains to make a real difference. We are proud to announce this first step in reinventing the future of packaging for our industry.”
Keenan Thompson, Director of Packaging Innovation at AB InBev, added: “We’re excited to finally launch this new packaging innovation we’ve been developing over the past three years. At AB InBev we are continually pushing boundaries by developing scalable solutions.
"Today is a proud moment for us, not only are we providing an opportunity for farmers but we’re also delivering a more mindful solution to the consumer.”
The new packaging will initially be rolled out in South America before being introduced globally.
