Virgin Atlantic has partnered with Sapling Spirits to launch eco-friendly aluminium vodka bottles onboard.
The new 5ml aluminium bottles are available across the carrier’s fleet in both economy and premium cabins.
Virgin Atlantic will be the first airline to fly the miniatures, reducing its glass and plastic waste consumption as a result. Additionally, the airline has set a target of planting over 20,000 trees throughout its year-long partnership with the British spirits brand.
Sapling’s Raspberry & Hibiscus Vodka, which is produced using wonky raspberries, has been served as part of a cocktail in Upper Class since 2023.
London-based brand Sapling Spirits was founded in 2018 and is regarded as a climate-positive brand due to its sustainable operations.
The B Corp-certified brand uses local ingredients to reduce transport emissions and plants a tree for every bottle sold, with the aim of planting 1 million trees by 2027. Each bottle features a unique code which tells you what tree was planted where, as well as more information on the planting project.
Shiada Drysdale, beverage lead at Virgin Atlantic, commented on the news:
“We are simply delighted to partner with Sapling again, this time to offer their award-winning Climate Positive vodka for our Economy and Premium customers. The brand new and exciting aluminium format supports us with moving one step closer to reaching our sustainability goals, and we’re so pleased that this this long-awaited innovation has come to fruition and will be served onboard our fleet.”
Ivo Devereux, co-founder of Sapling Spirits, added:
“This is such an exciting moment for the brand, we have spent over a year working on this packaging innovation for Virgin, so to see it on board will be a milestone for us. At Sapling, we are always looking for new initiatives to help progress sustainability in the drinks industry.
“We pioneered a 5L eco refill scheme in the on-trade and we are excited to partner with Virgin for this new innovation. With every sip of vodka consumed, passengers join us in planting thousands of trees whilst playing their part in helping to reduce glass & plastic consumption.”
For more information on the behind-the-scenes process of catering onboard meals, including a look at the challenges with sustainability, see our feature:
