BRAND’S BESPOKE BOTTLING Innovation

Brand Manager at Alchemy, Sophie Roberts, revealed that with each new product development, the company always explored packaging which would help reduce the company’s overall environmental footprint.

“For Alchemy & Tonic, it was critical that our packaging portrayed the sense of magic that the brand embodies,” revealed Roberts.

However, Roberts also revealed that standing out was essential in the competitive beverage market. Therefore, Alchemy & Tonic translated its charm into its packaging by using unique colours and artwork in playful and unexpected formats, such as the brand’s 250ml cans and new bespoke 600 ml glass bottle, both of which Roberts commented were recyclable.

Roberts shared that at Alchemy & Tonic, there was a talented in-house design team. However, the company worked with a range of talented individuals. With a unilateral desire for distinctive design, the team worked alongside Brave, a renowned and talented local artist known as Kallola Brown.

“The brief was to create a series of characters to bring to life our tonics under the theme of ‘magic’.”

Roberts revealed that Brown self-described that her inspiration for the Alchemy and Tonic illustrations was from a converging of themes, such as transformation, illusion, sorcery and astrology.

Inspiration was drawn heavily from the Victorian Era, a golden age for the mystical arts and characters such as the invisible man, oracles, and contortionists, which captured and cultivated the imagination of many. These features were blended into individual scenes depicted on Alchemy & Tonic’s new range, ensuring each drink had a throughline of magic that made each drink unique.

Design is of utmost importance at Alchemy & Tonic, with Roberts revealing that the brand packaging is designed to tell a story aligned with the consumer desire for quality products that are sustainably packaged with recyclable material also reveals a unique story.

“Design is important to us, and we wanted our packaging to tell a story. Not only do consumers look for a quality product, but they also want to know it’s made from recyclable materials, is sustainable and looks good not only on the shelf but when they are consuming it.”

Roberts elaborated that the brand’s choice to have its mixers packaged into cans and glass was specific to both materials being the most recyclable packaging options in New Zealand. She shared that over 18 months were spent creating a bottle design that used lightweight glass, at minimum, 70 percent of which was recycled glass, making it cheaper and more efficient to move around the country. The glass is locally made through Visy, which diverts 521,000 tonnes of glass from a landfill yearly.

“We consciously chose to use paper labels on our bottles instead of plastic-based labels. In addition, all of our outer cartons are made from FSC-approved paper sources, along with a high percentage of recycled cardboard.”

All of these choices by Alchemy & Tonic are deliberate for the company to reduce its carbon footprint.

With the brand’s recent glass bottle launch, Alchemy & Tonic is actively pursuing avenues to create a bottle-swap programme to reuse its bottles. However, this venture is still in its infancy, with the company’s long-term goal of creating a circular economy.

Roberts described the design process as beginning with research into the company’s target audience, garnering knowledge of market opportunity.

“We also look at trends in packaging design and competitors to come up with a look and feel that has shelf standout.”

Pastel colours and magical scenes were utilised in the new range in alignment with the brand’s personality. Alchemy & Tonic’s research process has allowed the company to develop a brand that would stand out in a crowded market and resonate with customers.