Case Study: The Secret Garden Distillery
Through the Looking Glass with The Secret Garden Distillery
Client Name: The Secret Garden Distillery
Brand: The Secret Garden Distillery
Bottle: Rose, Elderflower & Jasmin, Lemon Verbena, Lavender, Pinot Noir, Wild, Summer and Winter Gin.
The Company
Led by a tenacious duo of sisters, The Secret Garden Distillery showcases the wonders of nature and the unique flavours found in their distillery’s garden. From an early age, Isobel and Imogen were surrounded by distilleries in Scotland and their passion for creativity and science were fused together in spirit creation.
As the name suggests, the distillery is home to idyllic gardens where over 600 botanicals are hand-harvested to infuse the gin created on site, from the delicate nuance of contemporary styles to the robust character of a London dry.
The Bottle Brief
The unique range of gin creations were seeking a new home to house their world-class spirits, one that would echo the craftmanship of the spirit.
“What we produce is a super-premium product, and our previous packaging did not align with that, added to the fact that our price would be that of a 70cl in a 50cl bottle. The stature just wasn’t there before, and our bottle kept disappearing on bar or shop shelves.” – Isobel Armstrong, Director at The Secret Garden Distillery
They were seeking a bottle that truly embodies the brand story and to build this concept, Secret Garden recruited industry-renowned David Jenkins from Jenkins Studio who has curated designs for emerging craft brands like Wire Works.
For the design, David sought inspiration from the garden and the sisters to encapsulate the essence of The Secret Garden Distillery. From there, they sought our help to transform this concept into a reality.
“Verallia’s name kept coming up in the industry as a leader in glass bottle manufacturing in the UK, particularly on the sustainability front which is very important to our business. Sustainability is embedded at every level of our company, from how we grow and harvest our botanicals, to the production and bottling of our spirits. We knew that not only did we want the packaging to have better sustainability credentials than our previous bottle, but we also wanted to collaborate with suppliers that are actively engaged with CSR.”
A Truly Distinctive Bottle
With an intricate design established, Secret Garden Distillery was seeking a manufacturer that was able to honour the design and craft it in glass form. To do so, they required a bespoke bottle which would build storytelling through every element of the packaging.
Every aspect of this bottle was crucial to convey the right message.
“I would describe the bottle shape as being down to Earth, it feels very natural and organic. It’s a little misshapen, so it’s not a perfect cylinder this choice was to replicate what you would find in nature. Our tagline is ‘rooted in nature’ because everything that we do is centric to sustainability, sharing our garden, and celebrating nature. And to have the phrase embossed at the base of the bottle was a lovely detail.”
This is coupled with a beautiful embossed window that articulates the story of how the distillery created this green space to be shared, showcasing natural Scottish flavours that people would not expect. The design emulated a window carved from juniper to give a sense of being pulled into the garden, modelled after a moon door, which is a traditional door that separates two spaces and creates a stark contrast between them.
“We are inviting our consumers to explore the gin.”
They chose juniper as the centrepiece of the design as juniper is the key ingredient of all gin, so it was brought to the foreground. The aesthetic of the bottle coupled with the label offers a contrast between the spiky and harsh juniper with the softer accompanying botanicals in the background.
A Strategic Approach to Sustainability
As revealed earlier, sustainability is a key component of The Secret Garden Distillery ethos.
To assist with the sustainable credentials of the bottle, our team at Verallia introduced a high percentage of recycled content into their new bottle. The Secret Garden Distillery are so dedicated to pursuing sustainability in their packaging that they altered their recipe to avoid contrasting colours between the bottle and the gin, as higher recycled content often comes with a tinted colour to the glass. This alteration however, had no impact of the flavouring of the unique gins.
“As part of our sustainability agenda, we looked to minimise our Scope 3 emissions, and packaging was a key initiative, not only the carbon impact of the bottle but the wider supply chain. Therefore, we sought to move all suppliers into the UK. Previously we sourced bottles from Italy and Germany, and changing this to the UK considerably reduced our emissions.”
Aside from this, they saw the long-term value of sourcing glass packaging from Verallia, where continuous sustainable innovation would be possible.
“Nolan’s (Head of Emerging Brands at Verallia) passion for sustainability is contagious. Talking to him inspires us to take further steps. You can work with a manufacturer that has a sustainability report that looks great, but if they’re not year on year seeking improvement, they’re not the company to be working with. You need to collaborate with a company like Verallia that is constantly innovating.”
Tackling a Competitive Landscape
The spirit market, particularly the gin industry, is a hyper-competitive landscape and distinctive glass packaging is a way to compete and differentiate from other brands.
“Consumers are buying with their eyes, and they seek unique packaging that they can show off. Our new embossed, bespoke bottle gives our gin a presence that was needed to compete in the super premium space. The bottle showcases our incredible story and encourages people to explore the product. We’ve added the decoration elements that everyone loves, but applied it in a way unique to us.”
The Impact of Glass Packaging
After the launch of the bottle creation in April 2024, The Secret Garden Distillery has experienced an uplift in sales.
“There were a lot of customers we were struggling to engage with prior to the new glass, or they liked the gin but the bottles were just not rotating in the store. Since launching the new bottle those same customers have reengaged with the brand and are already reordering the product. We experienced an initial uplift in sales which is great, but seeing the reorders is the most valuable measure of performance.”
This distinctive bottle now houses 8 flavour infusions and due to the triumph of this creation, The Secret Garden Distillery plans to undergo a future project for a new line of spirits.
