Packaging today has taken on deeper meanings for brands. Whether it be sustainability commitments, fun partnerships or even in celebration of an iconic anniversary, today’s beverage brands are dedicated to making their packaging as transformative as the product inside.

For Beverage Industry’s annual Best Packages of Year feature, the editors selected a collection of packaging releases that highlight these attributes and the positive impact they are having on the beverage market.

Cambio Roasters

Earlier this year, Cambio Roasters launched aluminum coffee pods for its collection of 100% organic coffees. This innovative shift from plastic to aluminum represents a significant advancement in sustainability and coffee quality, the company says.

Kevin Hartley, CEO and founder of Cambio Roasters, explains that the company’s motivation to create aluminum coffee pods was to reimagine the K-cup package for the next 25 years to not only support better coffee but also be better for the planet.

“This new packaging solution, which is the biggest news in coffee since the K-Cup, is the perfect solution,” he says. “This is a perfect example of when packaging innovation unlocks consumer benefit. It is a prettier, more premium package. But what is actually important is what the consumer gets out of it, which is a better, fresher cup of coffee. We know it also keeps plastic out of landfills and oceans.”

Hartley explains that the switch to aluminum coffee pods offers a host of benefits.

“Plastic coffee pods, though cheap and available, due to their porosity, let in way too much oxygen, which is what makes coffee degrade and not taste equal to what the roast master intended,” he says. “Aluminum pods, conversely, are completely impervious to oxygen, so coffee stays fresh much longer than in a plastic pod.”

According to the company, only 3% of plastic coffee pods are successfully recycled into new products. In contrast, aluminum is infinitely recyclable and retains over 60% of the aluminum ever produced in circulation, it adds.

“Aluminum is literally the inverse of that, where more than 90% of the time that you throw it in a recycle bin in the U.S., it ends up as another product,” Hartley says. “So it’s a huge win for the consumer and for the coffee and for the planet.”

Since making the shift, Hartley notes that retailers and consumers have expressed positive reactions to the package.

“From the quantitative data, we know that about a third of active Keurig households are concerned about single use plastic waste and don’t want to give up the amazing cup of coffee and convenience that the system provides,” he says. “So the response has been otherworldly.”

Cambio Roasters new aluminum pods are available in more than 1,000 retailers nationwide, including Harris Teeter, Giant Martin, Hannaford, and Walmart, as well as through their official website and Amazon.

Celestial Seasonings

This spring, Celestial Seasonings, a brand of Hain Celestial Group, announced a significant step forward in its commitment to improving the sustainability of its packaging. The global specialty tea brand no longer will include plastic overwrap on the boxes of more than 130 teas.

Emily Rosen, marketing director for Celestial Seasonings, notes that the inclusion of plastic overwrap was part of a legacy process to offer a tamper-evident method. However, given the brand’s purpose-driven ethos, she highlights that it constantly is seeking opportunities to reduce its environmental footprint.

“After a thorough assessment of our packaging, we identified an opportunity to remove the plastic wrap from more than 130 teas as important and necessary to reduce the amount of plastic waste that consumer packaging contributes to landfills. We estimate this effort eliminates up to 165,000 pounds of plastic waste from landfills annually,” Rosen says, based on Celestial Seasonings worldwide shipment volume in calendar year 2023. “The main point of quality integrity for our teas is the wax liner, which hasn’t changed in this new carton design. Additionally, while the new carton doesn't have plastic overwrap, it does have multiple points of seal through a series of glue dots and a perforated lip for tamper evidence.”

Highlighting that Celestial Seasoning’s history is deeply rooted in nature, this motivated the brand to further its commitment to its customers, community ,and the planet, Rosen says.

“Celestial Seasonings is a global specialty tea brand and part of Hain Celestial Group’s family of brands, whose commitment to sustainability is focused on progress in three key areas: Healthier Planet, Healthier Products, and Healthier People,” she explains. “By removing the plastic overwrap from Celestial Seasonings tea boxes, the brand is contributing to Hain Celestial’s progress towards its sustainable packaging goals, including eliminating excess packaging materials and increasing the recyclability of its packaging globally.”

Re-emphasizing the estimated plastic waste removal from landfills annually of 165,000 pounds, Rosen puts that in perspective in the number of miles.

“The removal of the overwrap is the equivalent of approximately 16,000 miles of plastic ― or the distance it would take Sleepytime Bear, Celestial Seasonings’ beloved mascot ― to travel from Boulder, Colorado to Australia and back,” she says.

Before making the shift, Celestial Seasonings conducted studies on how this could impact the products.

“Our team conducted real-time and accelerated studies to gauge the impact this packaging change has had (if any) on our sensory profile, benefit delivery, and shelf life against SKUs that best represented our portfolio, which features big flavor and/or big wellness delivery,” Rosen explains. “The testing passed ― meaning, this new design still delivers the same great taste and benefit without the plastic overwrap.”

In terms of consumer response, Rosen notes that the company has received highly favorable feedback, with many consumers directly reaching out to express thanks and appreciation for the plastic overwrap removal. Customers also have been complimentary to the brand.

“In fact, one longtime customer specifically told us they had made a personal commitment to reducing their own use of plastics and was ‘overjoyed in the grocery aisle to find the newly packed teas are not wrapped in plastic’ because they didn’t want to stop buying the product: ‘It’s like you read my mind,’ they stated,” Rosen says. “Another longtime customer said they’re encouraged by companies that are doing the right thing in this area, and for us to keep up the good work.”

Given Hain Celestial Group’s purpose to inspire healthier living for people, communities and the planet through better-for-you brands, Rosen notes that the plastic overwrap removal is one contribution to its sustainable packaging goals.

“As a purpose-driven brand, we are constantly seeking opportunities to reduce our environmental footprint,” Rosen says. “For example, Celestial Seasonings is also working toward sourcing 100% renewable energy for the Boulder, Colo. manufacturing facility, as well as diverting more than 90% of waste from landfills. The success of the plastic overwrap removal has further strengthened our overall impact strategy to deliver a healthier planet, healthier products, and healthier people within the Celestial Seasonings brand and wider Hain Celestial portfolio.”

Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead Wines

This fall, Gnarly Head wines, and the Grateful Dead celebrated the duo’s third annual partnership with three new limited-release wine offerings.

Available nationwide are three limited-edition vintages: a gnarly Old Vine Zinfandel, a Cabernet Sauvignon and, for the first time within the collection, a Chardonnay. The Limited-Edition Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead wines are packaged in eye-catching bottles that rock two of the band’s most beloved icons in shimmering holographic labels, the company says.

Andrew Blok, portfolio director at Delicato Family Wines, explains that the year-over-year response to these limited releases has been phenomenal, highlighting the enthusiasm from Grateful Dead fans for any and all things related to the iconic band. Through the partnership, fans also have discovered Gnarly Head wines.

“There’s so much synergy with this partnership and we’ve seen that with the positive reception from fans each year surrounding the releases,” Blok says. “We have a lot of fun creating these limited-edition labels that honor the legendary music of the Dead, so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with them for a third year.”

The Limited-Edition Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead Chardonnay and Limited-Edition Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead Cabernet Sauvignon labels feature an adaptation of the Grateful Dead's symbolic “Steal Your Face” logo with an iridescent hologram skull that pops on the wine’s front label. Meanwhile, the Limited-Edition Gnarly Head x Grateful Dead Old Vine Zinfandel highlights the band’s familiar kinetic skull and roses figure, which emerges from the trunk of a gnarled, ancient vine. Paying homage to the artwork on the Grateful Dead’s 1971 album, the holographic skull head shimmers under the iconic halo of roses.

“As we were planning for year three of the partnership, we wanted to keep the momentum going and introduce an unexpected label design that would resonate with wine and the Grateful Dead fans,” Blok says. “Our goal was to uphold the signature look of Gnarly Head wines while showcasing the Dead’s legacy through show-stopping bottles, and we feel like we achieved that with this release. The iridescent, rainbow effect of the artwork is a nod to the band’s eclectic ‘70s-era culture, so the holographic labels felt like the perfect fit for this year’s collaboration.”

Blok adds that reaction from wine and music lovers has been highly positive.

“For the first time, we introduced a Chardonnay to the existing collection of Cabernet Sauvignon and Old Vine Zinfandel, so people have been excited about a new varietal addition, which we’ve packaged with an eye-catching white holographic label,” he says. We’ve seen a ton of consumer response across social media as people have been engaging with the brand to express their enthusiasm for these collector bottles.”

Going forward, consumers can expect more special releases from the wine brand as 2025 will mark an important anniversary for the band.

“Next year is the Grateful Dead’s 60th anniversary and we plan on celebrating that in a special way with next year’s limited-releases,” Blok says. “We want to honor the tremendous legacy of the band with an epic package that our consumers and the Dead fans have come to seek out year after year.”

MUG Root Beer

Following the announcement of the 2024 World’s Ugliest Dog contest in which Wild Thang is an eight-year-old Pekingese owned by Ann Lewis of North Bend, Ore., MUG Root Beer shared the announcement through a limited-edition packaging release.

This marked Wild Thang’s fifth time participating. Despite facing numerous challenges, including surviving distemper as a puppy, Wild Thang emerged as a healthy and happy Glugly (glamorous/ugly) guy, the company said at the time of announcement. The dog’s mission in life is to raise awareness about the importance of pet vaccinations, and uses his Instagram account, @Wildthangofficial, to spread his message far and wide, it adds.

Wild Thang, the 2024 World’s Ugliest Dog, was featured on the Today Show over the summer. Additionally, MUG Root Beer, a new sponsor of the World’s Ugliest Dog contest, has upped the ante this year, offering a total prize pool of $10,000 to the Top 3 winners. First place received $5,000, second place $3,000, and third place $2,000. Wild Thang also was featured on limited-edition cans of MUG Root Beer.

The cans featuring the Wild Thang, the World’s Ugliest Dog, were released via social media in mid-July, and consumers were able to enter to win one of the limited-edition cans via @mugrootbeer on Instagram and TikTok.

Pabst Blue Ribbon

To celebrate its 180th year, Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) released a 180-pack. Designed to be enjoyed responsibly by groups, Pabst Blue Ribbon’s 180-pack is stacked full of opportunities to celebrate and toast a beer with friends, the company said at the time of the release.

Rachel Keeton, senior brand director at PBR, notes that consumer interest in the anniversary pack even prompted the company to do an additional production run.

“There was an overwhelmingly positive response,” she says. “After a few consumer videos went viral, we had to do a second run to keep up with demand.”

The specialty pack wasn’t just a hit with consumers, but also with Pabst Blue Ribbon’s partners.

“Our partners were just as excited as we were to go big celebrating this impressive milestone,” Keeton says. “It was a true team effort across marketing and sales at Pabst, as well as with our distributor and retail partners to pull this off and build these massive displays at the store.”

Given all the excitement surrounding the 180-pack, Keeton says consumers and partners can expect more fun packaging from the brand down the road.

“We’ve got a history of having fun with limited-edition packs, whether it’s our art can packaging or extra-large pack sizes, and our fans love it,” she says. “We definitely plan to keep that excitement going in the future.”