The new Ecogift tool by Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail (PR GTR), which analyses the carbon footprint of a manufactured Gift With Purchase (GWP), has led to a 34% reduction in the carbon footprint of its new trolley bag in its first application.

The launch of the new tool supports the company’s global objective to apply eco-design to all of its new GWPs from July 2022 and comes at a time when sustainability is an increasingly important consideration for shoppers in travel retail.

A recent study by m1nd-set revealed that eight out of 10 travellers say there are concerned about shopping in a sustainable way.

Furthermore, sustainability was ranked as the third most important aspect of choosing alcohol products when shopping in duty free (after brand and price).

“We are proud to be continually driving forward with new innovations supporting our ambition to lead the channel’s sustainable transformation,” said Mohit Lal, Chairman and CEO Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail.

“We know that consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their carbon footprint and the impact of their behaviour and purchasing decisions.

“This is perhaps even more acute in the travel retail context, considering the rise of ‘planet-first’ destination choice, and the search for meaningful travel experiences.

“Technology has a key role to play in ensuring that sustainability is truly embedded within business and innovation process. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

The custom-built Ecogift tool was developed in partnership with PIE Factory, a B Corp certified sustainable design consultancy.

It assesses the full lifecycle of a GWP, from raw material provenance and certification through to manufacturing and energy usage, packaging and transport, use and disposal of the product, considering whether it is reusable, recyclable, biodegradable or compostable.

“It has been an exciting challenge to partner with Pernod Ricard to build a tool that will promote Circular Making and deliver environmental improvement through life cycle thinking,” said Simon Evans, Sustainability Director PIE Factory.

The tool builds all the information into an easy-to-interpret traffic light scoring system, allowing the team to see if the proposal is compliant and can proceed, or if it must be re-worked.

The information is broken down into granular data across each stage of the product lifecycle to highlight where improvements would be most impactful.

The 34% decrease in carbon footprint of the trolley bag was achieved primarily by a raw material change (integrating certified RPET made from recycled plastic bottles) to produce a foldable as opposed to a rigid bag.

Changes to logistics have also contributed to the carbon reduction – for example, by removing single-use plastic polybags and using fewer shipping cases.

The trolley bags and foldable weekend bags, initially with Royal Salute branding, will first be available in Korea at the JTO Duty Free Shop in Jeju, with other markets to follow throughout the year.

The new Ecogift tool completes the reach of PR GTR’s industry-first Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) Tool for Merchandising, effectively allowing the company to analyse and strive to minimise the carbon footprint of all manufactured products initiated in GTR.

The LCA Tool for Merchandising, launched in 2021, is now used on all of PR GTR’s retail projects and has helped the company to cut its carbon footprint by almost half (48%) during the first six months of its application.

The duo of data-driven innovations sit within PR GTR’s focus on Circular Making, one of the four pillars that feed into its global sustainability and responsibility roadmap, with the objective of reducing carbon footprint and minimising waste.