Move to lightweight for Herefordshire Brewer

Less than a year ago, in November 2008, Wye Valley Brewery installed its own bottling line on site in Stoke Lacy. To become more environmentally friendly the brewery has now changed all bottled beer products over to lightweight bottles. The new bottles are 21% lighter than the previous format resulting in significant energy savings and will significantly lighten the load for delivery vehicles. There are other advantages of the lightweight bottle, the line is running faster than ever, at up to 3000 bottles per hour. In addition, shrink wrap weight has been reduced by 60% and cardboard and plastic recycling facilities are now in use across the site. Said Head Brewer Jimmy Swan, 'We are constantly looking for ways to improve our business and become more efficient. With our bottled beer sales increasing year on year changing over to lightweight bottles was an important move for us'. Two of Wye Valley’s bottled beer brands are available in Tesco regionally, Butty Bach and Dorothy Goodbody’s Golden Ale. Tesco’s Local Marketing Manager Enfys Fox commented… 'We are delighted to be stocking Wye Valley Ales which are extremely popular with our customers in our stores. It’s great to work with such an enthusiastic team at Wye Valley Brewery who are working very hard to progress their business'. Photo shows head brewer Jimmy Swan with our lovely new lighter bottles.