Lagardère Travel Retail is set to trial a sustainability solution with Jack Daniel’s in a bid to test consumer sentiment around the use of secondary packaging.

In September this year, as part of a brand activation, the retailer will give shoppers a choice as to whether or not they want to receive the box. 

“One of the key drivers to buy in travel retail is to purchase for a gift,” Victoire Gueugnier, Director of Alcohol Supply & Purchasing, told TRBusiness.

“This secondary packaging is a way to answer this need and to correspond to our premium offer, but also to keep the integrity of the quality of the liquid. Thus it is difficult to completely remove it. 

“However for some products, we decided to remove the secondary packaging and to use it only during specific periods in our airports – Father’s and Mother’s Days, the Christmas period …

 “For an activation in September 2023, Jack Daniel’s will propose to the client to keep or drop the secondary packaging. This will be a good test to see what proportion of clients keep the secondary packaging.”

Radical reuse…

Another measure the retailer is taking to reduce its environmental impact is to be smarter about the activation fixtures it is using.

According to Gueugnier, work is being done to use materials for longer, or to reuse them across different locations. 

“With our marketing team, we are working to capex our activation, meaning during activations, brands have the possibility to use our fixture and just print their content. It is always better to reuse than to rebuild a new fixture.”

The travel retailer is also looking to streamline supply chains where appropriate to cut out transport miles on products.

“We have a central warehouse in Paris, but for Scotch whisky we began to send directly to our airports in Luton,” Gueugnier continued. “But it is not an easy journey. Suppliers are not used to it and it could be less efficient for them. We are also adapting our organisation – adding local warehouses, recruiting people locally. To improve on sustainability at all levels is not an option anymore!”

Last month, Lagardère appointed Arnaud Rolland as Vice-President, CSR to lead the Group’s overall sustainability strategy.

For more on how stakeholders are improving efficiency and making sustainability gains, watch out for the March/April print edition of TRBusiness, at the IAADFS Duty Free Show of the Americas, and online soon.