Beverage brand The London Essence Co. has used DS Simth’s printing expertise to help introduce a direct-to-consumer range of its premium mixers, including using large format digital printing to create a bundle to ‘Thank Your Hero’.

There have been radical changes in the way people have shopped in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and consumer movements continue to be in a state of flux as societies and economies start to transition into a post-lockdown environment. This has and continues to present opportunities to those looking to exploit the growth in e-commerce.

One of those is premium mixers brand, The London Essence Co., which is responding to new demand patterns by offering a range of products directly to their customers online for the first time. The range includes ‘The Taster Collection’, ‘The Tonic Collection’, ‘The Can Collection’, and a range of ‘Exquisite Bundles’ with spirits partners that consumers can purchase online.

To facilitate this, The London Essence Co. enlisted the support of packaging giant DS Smith to facilitate e-commerce success. DS Smith responded by collaborating closely with the company to develop a bespoke e-commerce packaging range, comprising of branded staple bulk boxes, all the way through to luxury gifting boxes. For added convenience, The London Essence Co. is also reaping the benefits from DS Smith off-the-shelf products, available through its the ePack web shop.

Rob Carle, UK head of e-commerce sales at DS Smith, commented, ‘Consumers will always want access to a broad array of purchase point choice, and we are thrilled that The London Essence Co. has partnered with us on its journey to develop the packaging for its e-commerce range. By being forward-thinking, together we have rapidly produced a bespoke solution that allows them to continue to evolve their business as shopping behaviour moves online.’

Laura Hamilton, marketing manager at The London Essence Co., continued, ‘At The London Essence Co. we’re proud of what we do and what we deliver, and we’re excited to be able to offer an e-commerce range to meet the changing demands of consumers. Through DS Smith’s quick and scalable support, we’ve been able to go-to-market quickly with an innovative and sustainable range that we’re confident has left a good impression with our customers and can future-proof our business.’

As part of the direct-to-consumer range, DS Smith has worked to design a ‘Thank Your Hero’ box, a tailored and personalised premium packaging option. The concept is a partnership between The London Essence Co. and Sapling Spirits. The bundle includes premium cans from The London Essence Co., a 75cl bottle of Sapling Spirits vodka, a recipe card and a personalised gifting card, and enables customers to gift their ‘heroes’ during the pandemic or on special days such as birthdays and anniversaries.

The partnership builds on The London Essence Co.’s ongoing ambition to be as sustainable as possible, thus engaging DS Smith, a renowned sustainable packaging company, and Sapling Spirits, which has a unique ‘Plant a Tree’ initiative that sees a tree planted for every bottle of Sapling vodka purchased.

During the swift customisation process, DS Smith worked with The London Essence Co. to design the bespoke inserts and boxes in line with its circular design principles, including; a limit to any additional materials being used in the packaging, a design that is tailored for supply cycle efficiency, and a desire to keep packaging materials in circular use. In addition to this, the DS Smith team worked to ensure exceptionally high standards of functionality and practicality were met, so that consumers have their products arrive safely and securely.

Janine Carter, strategic account manager within the DS Smith Packaging division, said, ‘The ‘Thank Your Hero’ e-commerce pack contains three elements including the outer packaging, bottle fitment and layer pad that houses the recipe card and Sapling booklet. All components are bespoke printed using the large format digital prototyping printer, creating a high-quality finish that is perfect for limited run promotions.’