Friends of Glass has been running the Taste of Europe campaign to discover which tastes best represent the diverse range of cultures across Europe.
Vitaliano Torno, president of the European Container Glass Federation (FEVE), said: “FEVE is committed to making consumers aware of the benefits of glass packaging.”
And Technische Universität Kaiserslautern’s Prof Dieter Schrenk added: “Taste is one of the most important yet vulnerable properties of food. Effective and reliable preservation of any taste is amongst the most critical requirements food packaging materials must fulfil. Glass is the ideal food packaging material because it does not interact with the food or its flavour components.”
With this in mind, Claire Phoenix spoke with UK beer sommelier of the year 2014–2015 Jane Peyton about the benefits of glass packaging and Friends of Glass’ latest marketing initiative, which is giving consumers the chance to explore more about their own personal tastes.
What is your view of the new move to craft beer?
It is a golden age for beer drinkers in countries where the craft beer movement has started. There is so much dynamism in brewing, some fantastic new craft beer pubs, a wide diversity in styles of beer with wonderful aromas and flavours, and a big choice of brands for drinkers.
It happened first in America and has spread around the world. In Britain, it ties in with the increased interest in food and drink, locally sourced products, knowing the provenance of food and drink, and having food and drink produced on a human scale rather than by vast faceless corporations.
For glass the craft beer revolution is a huge benefit. Drinkers increasingly drink bottles of craft beer in pubs (as well as draught beer). It offers customers a better choice because bars and pubs can stock a wide array of beer brands in bottles and do not have to commit to buying in bulk. Around the country, speciality beer shops are opening and their shelves are packed with bottles of craft beer from around the world.
What do you find most exciting about the current bottled beer market? Which brands excite you?
The current bottled beer market is so exciting. There is a huge choice of beers available from around the world and that is a real boon for customers as they can buy a selection of bottles and explore the huge variety of beers. I really like the Wild Beer Company beers. Not only are the beers delicious but the branding is very chic and many of their beers are sold in champagne bottles with champagne corks and muselets. They look so elegant!
How important is it to raise consumer awareness of glass – surely this is one of the most popular packaging formats anyway. Where is it losing out?
The majority of consumers do not think about the packaging of their food and drinks. It is a popular packaging format but increasingly food and drink producers, and shops, are choosing other packaging materials. When customers are educated about the benefits of glass – inert, sustainable, healthier choice, sustainable, recyclable – they rethink their choices when shopping. If they are made aware of the benefits of glass compared to other packaging materials they can make an educated choice.
How much were you involved in creating the taste map and what do you think are the most revealing questions?
I am the UK Taste Ambassador for this project and participated in the launch of the taste map project where sommeliers and food experts from several European countries tasted a range of the best selling foods and drinks from five major EU countries to see what the flavour preferences of consumers were. Rather than a revealing question, I found the answers very revealing. The taste profiles followed the national stereotypes of the countries.
Some of the major breweries have trialled beer in PET; what do you think about drinking beer from PET in comparison to glass?
I would never drink beer from PET. To me, beer is a gift from nature that has been crafted with passion by a human. It deserves to be revered and treated with respect. To me, glass has a sense of occasion and when I drink beer served in a bottle (I always decant into a glass) then it feels special.
What sort of character did the quiz reveal you as, and do you agree with this description in general?
I am salty. Yes, I completely agree with the result! It is a fun quiz.
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