Glencairn Crystal Studio offers luxury spirits glassware solution  during industry shortage

A Glencairn premium glass bottle shown in four designs.

Premium and luxury spirits brand owners are currently facing a packaging challenge within the industry: the sourcing and availability of premium glass.

In response to the current situation, Scotland-based crystal glassware company Glencairn Crystal is reaching out to the drinks industry to offer support. Due to the company’s strong and consistent supply chain, it has large quantities of premium glass bottles available and is working hard to meet the ever-increasing needs of clients – both existing and new – who are searching for a solution to the growing problem.

This issue is proving particularly challenging for the premium malt whiskies category aged 18 years and over, as well as other spirits of significant age and value. Often priced around £100 and over, this sector requires vessels that are more exclusive than a standard mass-produced bottle, however still kept at an affordable price point offering decent economies of scale.

Why has this situation emerged?

With the trend in luxury spirits still very much on the rise – whisky and spirits companies continue to ‘premiumise’ many of their expressions in order to meet this demand and are keen to, not only create the finest liquid, but also beautiful, stand-out packaging to add value to and increase the desirability of their new product launches.

However, the global rebound in demand as Covid subsides in many areas, coupled with increased energy costs and world-wide transportation issues has pushed up price and extended lead times of premium glass bottles, leading to delays of up to 12 months, with new projects taking up to 18 months to bring to production.

With a need for solutions that address environmental concerns, the lack of suitable glass and on-going supply chain issues all frustrating the industry. It is this element that Glencairn is offering unrivalled support in terms of outstanding service that includes design, creation and supply of premium glass bottles and with such a superior supply chain, they can meet demand at short notice.

Filling the gap in the market:

Scott Davidson, New Product Development Director at Glencairn said: “We’ve been evolving our offerings for over 40 years to provide an unparalleled range of premium cosmetic glass bottles and lead-free crystal bottles and decanters. We have worked hard to take the learning from some of the most expensive decanters in the world and supply this on more affordable, and importantly, more readily available, premium glass bottles.”

“Our talented team of craftspeople can decorate cosmetic glass and bottles to the highest standards with bespoke designs developed by our inhouse design team. Our decoration facilities are at the cutting edge of the market, with industry leading production processes in engraving, decoration and precious metal and materials application.”

Glencairn Crystal’s premium cosmetic glass bottles come in all shapes and sizes and are fully recyclable (minimum order quantities far less than many other suppliers).

The company also supplies semi-automatically produced, hand finished crystal decanters, as opposed to hand blown, meaning that luxury spirits can be housed in high quality crystal glassware but without the huge leap in cost for crystal decanters made by hand, which are for only the rarest releases.

To hear more about what Glencairn Crystal  is offering existing, new and potential customers in this area of glassware, please contact: contact@glencairn.co.uk

Glencairn Crystal’s sustainability strategy and environmental positioning:

As a socially and environmentally responsible family business we are strongly influenced by our families’ children’s views on the environment, as they are the future of both our business and our planet.

We’ve undertaken an extensive expansion and remodelling of our factory and offices at our headquarters in East Kilbride, just outside Glasgow, as part of our strategy to increase our level of sustainability and to re-use and reduce rather than just recycle.

This marks an exciting moment for us as we strive to become 100% dependent on our own solar energy. The energy generated by our brand new solar storage system will be over and above the required amount for our company to run off and any excess electricity generated will be sent back to the grid and can be repurposed for other local usage.

We’ve also invested in various other key initiatives including electric car charging points so that all company cars are now either fully electric or hybrid. Day-to-day office functions such as recycling and packaging have been carefully considered, with the ambition to remove the use of all plastic packaging entirely over the next five years. We’ve also reduced gas usage across the business by 30% and this will to rise to 60% over the next 5 years – eventually leading to removal of gas energy altogether over the next ten years.