Eco-friendly craft wine supplier When In Rome has hit a £400k crowdfunding target to expand its range of sustainable packaging into paper bottles.
Rob Malin, Andrea Marchesi and Lorenzo Canali founded the business in 2015 with the aim of making the category more environmentally friendly.
Its range of wines are packaged in bags and cans, with new paper bottles set to be launched.
The cash from more than 170 investors on the Crowdcube platform will also help expand the company’s distribution reach.
The When In Rome brand and a partnership with TV personality Philip Schofield – launched in 2020 – are currently stocked by Waitrose and Ocado.
Revenues at the business almost doubled to more than £650k in 2020 as shoppers turned to bag-in-box (BiB) wine in greater numbers during lockdown.
Rob Malin said the UK alt-format wine market grew by 59% in April 2020 as the pandemic changed consumer habits.
“Wine is the most scandalously overpacked product in the fmcg category and 39% of the wine industry’s carbon emissions stem from the production and transport of single-use glass bottles,” he added.
“When in Rome is on a mission to change that, by putting high quality Italian craft wines in eco -friendly, alt-format containers such as BiB, cans and paper bottles.”
Malin said: “We believe the time is right for our mission and are seeking investment from the public to grow our range, expand distribution within the UK and overseas and amplify our marketing to enable our message of quality, value and sustainability to reach more conscious consumers in more markets.”
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