Sustainable Wine Packaging

The EVA Swap Mistake

Swapping EVA for a paper-based insert and changing nothing else is the most common mistake. Paper-based inserts have less rebound and lower surface precision than EVA. The structure has to compensate with neck capture, base support, four-point contact and angled location. Get the structure right and the material gap matters much less.

Materials We Actually Recommend

Moulded pulp is the most mature option for wine. It gives adequate shock absorption and load capacity, it is recyclable, and it requires tooling. Honeycomb and multi-layer corrugated suit foldable boxes and higher-volume export work at three plies or more.

Paper-based composites suit lighter bottles and gift combinations, but they rebound less than EVA and need extra wrapping structure. We do not recommend them for champagne. We also avoid single-ply paper trays because they have insufficient load, low-density recycled stock that collapses, soft fibre wadding with poor location, and untreated materials without moisture resistance for sea freight.

Structure Rules for Paper Inserts

Our insert rule stays the same: the bottle is held at four points, with no unsupported neck or shoulder. We check the insert by shaking the loaded box for 10 seconds, tilting it 45 degrees and inverting it. There should be no movement, no slide and no release. For foldable boxes, creases must not crack and corners should sit at 90 degrees.

Premium Feel Without Plastic

Premium feel comes from texture, not from a plastic tray. Linen-finish stock, matt lamination, embossing and restrained foil read as more considered than a plastic insert. We pair those finishes with greyboard and specialty paper, so the outside and inside of the box stay part of the same gifting experience.

Send us your bottle dimensions or a sample, plus your reference design and quantity, and we will quote a sustainable structure that keeps the unboxing moment intact. Get a Quote