Cheers to change: WSTA raises a glass to UK wine and spirit market evolution, and urges Labour Government to apply caution with EPR plans
Miles Beale is the Chief Executive of the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), an organisation representing over 300 companies involved in producing, importing, exporting, transporting, and selling wines and spirits in the United Kingdom.
WSTA's membership ranges from major retailers and brand owners to fine wine and spirit specialists, logistics and bottling companies, and low and no alcohol producers. Under Beale's leadership, the WSTA has been actively addressing key industry issues that matter to today’s wine and spirit supply chain, including alcohol duty, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), and Deposit Return Schemes (DRS).
London Packaging Week sat down with Miles ahead of his participation at this year’s show, taking place 11 & 12 September 2024 at ExCeL.
Q: What are some of the challenges and opportunities coming across your inbox today?
The most regular topics we’re asked about include alcohol duty, EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility), and DRS. To better arm the industry with up-to-the-minute knowledge, we have started hosting fortnightly surgery sessions for our members, it’s been a great way to deal with their queries in one session and cutting back on the email traffic. Elsewhere, for the WSTA, it’s all about finding opportunities to speak to those in government and parliament that are shaping policy, and those in the media that write about our industry.
Q: How have consumer preferences for packaging formats evolved in recent years, and how is the industry adapting to these changes?
Consumers are certainly more environmentally conscious than they have ever been. Shoppers are thinking about how their products are packaged and how easy they are to recycle. The alcohol industry has been quick to adapt and innovative in creating forms of packaging to meet the environmental brief, finding new ways of packaging alcohol in boxes, cans, and lightweight glass to help improve transport and recycling targets. Consumers are also increasingly looking for convenience, and there’s been a marked increase in ready-to-drink options, often in cans.
Q: What innovative packaging formats are currently emerging in the wine and spirits industry, and how are these being received by consumers and retailers?
Most innovation is led by consumer demand. We are seeing a growing number of alcohol products packaged in cans and cardboard appearing on our supermarket shelves and with online retailers, which indicates growing consumer interest. However, glass packaging, the more traditional and still most recyclable, remains dominant. Keeping glass out of any nationwide Deposit Return Scheme and improving kerbside collection is key to ensuring the UK keeps up its already-excellent glass recycling rates.
Q: How does the WSTA balance the push for more convenient packaging formats with maintaining traditional packaging that has historical and aesthetic value?
It’s about delicately balancing modern consumer demands with the preservation of traditional elements that define a product's identity. This can be achieved in design and marketing, integrating innovation, and the approach used with new materials and aesthetics.
For example, flat plastic wine bottles retain the traditional and recognisable wine bottle colour, volume, and neck shape, while being more convenient for transport and retailers in terms of reduced breakages and storage space.
Q: What steps is the WSTA taking to promote sustainable packaging solutions within the industry?
We’re centring our efforts around shared knowledge, community and collaboration. The WSTA has created a dedicated environmental hub on its website where members can share their environmental best practice efforts and swap advice on how the sector can work together to provide better sustainable practices.
Outside of industry, we work closely with all governments of the UK to help ensure sustainable packaging innovations are not restricted by policy decisions or their outcomes, for example, the design of Extended Producer Responsibility or Deposit Return Schemes.
Q: How is the industry moving towards a circular economy model, particularly in relation to packaging materials and recycling efforts?
Our industry accepts its responsibility in moving the UK closer to a circular economy. This will be paid for and managed by industry. EPR will hold producers accountable for the entire lifecycle of their products, particularly for take-back, recycling, or final disposal. Fees on all packaging will incentivise sustainable design and reduce the use of less recyclable materials.
The costs of EPR were expected in Summer 2023 but have still not been published by DEFRA. This has massively delayed progress, as well as the ability for industry to share these costs with retailers, consumers, and the hospitality industry. Deposit Return Schemes are a devolved policy, and the WSTA has worked hard to align the four nations’ schemes.
The failed Scottish DRS is indicative of the waste of time and money that devolved, uncoordinated policymaking (or politics) can create, and it underlines the importance of policy makers and industry voices engaging. The Welsh Government is the only nation wanting to include glass in their scheme, but this will add further cost, complexity, and delay, which will ultimately be paid for by consumers and the environment.
Q: What future trends in packaging do you foresee having the most significant impact on the wine and spirits industry, and how is the WSTA preparing its members to embrace these trends, particularly regarding technological advancements in packaging?
It’s hard to predict what will happen to packaging in the future, because this will be largely led by consumer demand, technology, and scientific evidence. As our understanding of the most sustainable approaches to packaging improves, so will packaging formats. We have already seen large-scale changes to improve recyclability, lightweighting, and the introduction of biodegradable materials. The introduction and continued development of alternative formats such as boxes, cans, pouches, and cartons look to continue. Other trends we’re excited to see developing include unique identification of packaging via QR codes, augmented reality, personalisation and customisation of packaging, and almost certainly we will see re-use and re-fill developments.
Q: What role do collaborations and partnerships play in advancing packaging and recyclability goals, and can you provide examples of successful initiatives?
The WSTA’s work focuses on working with the four government branches of the UK. We collaborate with our producers and the supply chain, including other trade bodies, to help design policy that will work, and work for everyone.
We have been helping establish UK EPR, and the next phase will be governance. We are also working to establish a UK-wide DRS that will work as intended and be cost-effective for consumers and other stakeholders.
Q: What future trends do you foresee in packaging and recyclability for wine and spirits, and how is the industry preparing for these changes?
As indicated earlier, less packaging overall through downgauging, more re-use, and more innovation in areas like cardboard and can packaging. But we must also remember there is also a lot of investment going into the development of next-generation glass bottling plants, for example, Encirc and its impressive model to create the most sustainable beverage supply chain in the world. Plants such as these are exploring the most advanced manufacturing technology to produce the highest-quality container glass with the lowest carbon footprint. This will ensure that glass remains one of the best packaging options.
Q: With growing consumer demand for sustainable packaging and increasing regulatory pressures, what initiatives is the WSTA undertaking to promote eco-friendly packaging practices among its members, and how are these initiatives being received by the industry?
We want to work with the new Labour Government to achieve the most sustainable outcomes. Working with industry, the UK Government can benefit from the vast knowledge from the experts in our industry to help deliver effectively on a shared set of environmental outcomes, but that is also efficient. It’s knowledge and insight that could only come from within the industry.
After all, the new government’s number one priority is, rightly, economic growth, which is a pre-requisite for business investment to reach Net Zero fast. It’s imperative to avoid unnecessary and costly red tape for business. Otherwise, we’re putting our foot on the accelerator, but never getting out of first gear.
Q: What is your long-term vision for the WSTA and the wine and spirits industry, and what key milestones do you hope to achieve in the coming years?
The Wine and Spirit Trade Association has called on Labour to work with industry to promote growth, cut red tape, and deliver social responsibility and environmental sustainability. With a new Government in place, the WSTA is determined that the UK should remain at the centre of the world’s wine and spirit trade. In 2022, the UK wine and spirit industry supported 413,000 jobs, generated £22.6 billion in GVA (Gross Value Added), and contributed £76.3 billion in economic activity.
The change in government feels like a fresh chapter and a chance to move away from an increasingly disconnected and heavy-handed approach, towards a closer and more collaborative working partnership with the new one.
Labour has pledged to support business with a stable policy environment and an approach to business taxation that allows long-term planning. We agree on this approach and are calling on new Ministers to stick to these principles for the lifetime of the new Parliament—starting with making permanent the temporary easement for wine duty and delaying the EPR scheme’s introduction to ensure it is fit for purpose. The new Government needs to demonstrate quickly its commitment to deliver the stability that they have promised for business by answering calls from our industry for support, partnership, and clarity.
As a trade body, we are here to help facilitate achievable policy change, working hand-in-hand with the Government. We want to work in close partnership with Ministers and government officials to deliver economic growth, improved environmental outcomes, and greater social responsibility. An ambitious package of measures has been set out under its umbrella policy of EPR, and the WSTA wants to work with the new Government to ensure the regime is fit for purpose, with realistic timeframes for implementation.
Businesses in the UK are already under obligations under EPR, yet much of the detail needed to help businesses plan and budget for the new rules, set by the previous Government, has not yet been issued.
The publication of business-critical information on indicative modulated fees was delayed by the General Election, while the timetable for introducing the new regime remains October 2025. There is simply not enough time for businesses to prepare nor for the necessary infrastructure and systems to be introduced. The WSTA is calling for the scheme to be delayed, and no firm date proposed for its introduction until a clear implementation pathway is agreed between Government and business.
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