Mohren Brewery's lightweight glass bottle nominated twice for Swiss Packaging Award

Vorarlberg's beer market leader Mohrenbräu is a global pioneer in the use of resource-saving returnable lightweight glass bottles. The family-owned company has been using the innovative packaging from Swiss packaging manufacturer Vetropack for the past four years, saving 306 tonnes of CO2 annually. The bottle made of thermally tempered lightweight glass has now been nominated for the Swiss Packaging Award in the categories "Sustainability" and "Technology". The prize will be awarded in June.

Lightweight, robust, efficient and environmentally friendly: the Mohren Brewery relies on the "Echovai" lightweight glass bottle from Vetropack for all of its 0.33-litre returnable containers. As the exclusive pilot partner, the traditional brewery has gathered valuable experience for four years until the official presentation in autumn 2022. The world's first bottle made of thermally tempered lightweight glass has now been nominated for the Swiss Packaging Award in the categories "Sustainability" and "Technology". The prestigious prize will be awarded at the beginning of June.

"Returnable and lightweight glass are central to the climate-friendly future of the beer industry. Vetropack has developed the perfect solution and we have realised its full potential as pioneers on the market," Mohrenbrauerei Managing Director Thomas Pachole is pleased to say. The lightweight glass bottles cause 75 percent fewer emissions than conventional 0.33-litre returnable glass bottles. This means that the Mohren Brewery saves 306 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. Added to this is the longer service life. "After almost four years and up to twelve rotations, the Echovai bottles are still as good as new, unlike standard bottles. We therefore expect significantly more circulation cycles," reports Daniel Egger, Head of Innovation at Vetropack.

Pioneering work for market revolution
The 0.33-litre bottles are convincing both ecologically and economically. In addition to "Pfiff" and the Radler varieties, the Mohren Brewery has also been bottling "Spezial", by far the most popular beer in Vorarlberg, in the innovative returnable solution since March 2022. "The crates for the lightweight glass bottles are almost two kilograms lighter, more resilient and can be used more often. In addition, the beer cools faster in the thin-walled ones," Pachole explains. He sees Vetropack's lightweight glass bottle as an enormous opportunity for the beer market and for climate protection.

As Logistikverbund-Mehrweg reported at the end of 2022, the market share of 0.33-litre containers in Austria has doubled in ten years. Currently, it is about 10 per cent or 135 million bottles per year. The majority of this is accounted for by non-returnable bottles. With the nationwide conversion to the climate-friendly returnable lightweight glass bottle, around 4,300 tonnes of CO2 could be saved annually in Vorarlberg alone, given the 19 million 0.33-litre containers sold.

Sustainable by tradition
Resource-saving business practices have a long tradition at the Mohren Brewery. For decades, the family-owned company has been committed to environmentally friendly, energy-saving and appreciative working and production conditions. The commitment of Vorarlberg's oldest brewery ranges from the use of renewable energies and the brewery's own PV system to state-of-the-art machinery and equipment, returnable containers and lightweight glass bottles to e-mobility and energy-efficient dispensing technology for gastronomy customers.