Virgin Atlantic has teamed up with Sapling Spirits to launch eco-friendly aluminum vodka bottles on board.
The new 5ml aluminum bottles are available across the airline's entire fleet, in both economy and premium cabins.
Virgin Atlantic will be the first airline to fly the miniatures, reducing its consumption of glass and plastic waste as a result. Additionally, the airline has set a goal of planting more than 20,000 trees throughout its year-long partnership with the British spirits brand.
Sapling's Raspberry Hibiscus Vodka, which is produced with young raspberries, has been served as part of a cocktail at Upper Class since 2023.
London-based brand Sapling Spirits was founded in 2018 and is considered a climate-positive brand due to its sustainable operations.
The certified B Corp brand uses local ingredients to reduce transportation emissions and plants a tree for every bottle sold, with the goal of planting 1 million trees by 2027. Each bottle features a unique code that also tells you which tree was planted and where. as well as more information about the planting project.
Shiada Drysdale, drinks leader at Virgin Atlantic, commented on the news:
“We are simply delighted to be partnering with Sapling again, this time to offer their award-winning Climate Positive vodka to our Economy and Premium customers. “The exciting new aluminum format helps us take another step towards achieving our sustainability goals, and we are very pleased that this long-awaited innovation has come to fruition and can be used on board our fleet.”
Ivo Devereux, co-founder of Sapling Spirits, added:
“This is a very exciting time for the brand; We've spent over a year working on this packaging innovation for Virgin, so seeing it on board will be a milestone for us. At Sapling, we are always looking for new initiatives to help advance sustainability in the beverage industry.
“We pioneered a 5-litre eco-friendly refilling system in the hospitality sector and are excited to be partnering with Virgin for this new innovation. With every sip of vodka consumed, passengers join us in planting thousands of trees while helping to reduce glass and plastic consumption.”
For more information on the behind-the-scenes process of inflight meal catering, including a look at the challenges of sustainability, check out our article:
Airline catering: appetite on board
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