Bright and bold gift packaging for Horseshoe Gin

Packaging Solutions

Smurfit Kappa recently produced a new packaging solution for Horseshoe Distillery, an exciting small batch distillery in Northern Ireland that produces a 100% Irish dry gin – Horseshoe Gin.

The team at Horseshoe Gin wanted a gin gift packaging solution that would boast a powerful presence and stand out on shelves. The drinks sector is highly competitive, with new brands popping up seemingly overnight – so it is critical to grab the consumer’s attention immediately.

The distillery reached out to Smurfit Kappa to design a gin gift box that would perfectly capture the brand personality – bold and bright, with functionality at the core. The Horseshoe Gin team wanted to create an impactful and fun bottle packaging design.

Smurfit Kappa created a bespoke gin gift packaging solution that boasted a striking shelf presence and provided Horseshoe Gin customers with an exceptional unboxing experience.

Part of the allure of Horseshoe Gin is the ‘hidden’ messages in the wraparound printing on the glass bottles, alongside the signature swing top ‘pop’ lid. The clever, yet beautifully crafted, gin gift packaging would seamlessly complete this blend of fun and functionality.

When creating the gift packaging, Horseshoe Gin asked the design team to ensure the distinctive diamond shaped label showed through a cut out at the front of the box. Ensuring the label and cut out were perfectly aligned was challenging, but the team quickly overcame this. This distinctive diamond cut out allows the bottle and the Horseshoe Gin brand to remain a key focus to catch the customer’s eye instantly.

Once the alignment was perfected, it was time for the next step. To ensure there were minimal product breakages and to prevent damage from scuffing, the team needed to ensure the bottle of gin wouldn’t move or twist inside the box when in transit.

The stunning result was a daring design featuring a sleek inner lid to hold the fragile bottle firmly. This quirky yet cunning design encourages the customer to lift the box and turn the product, exploring the design while the bottle remains snugly in place.

Consumers increasingly demand more sustainable packaging solutions. The 75% recycled fibre in the Smurfit packaging solution, helped this brand appeal to the growing numbers of eco conscious consumers whilst maintaining the quality and aesthetic appeal of the packaging.

The new gin gift packaging stopped twisting bottles during transit, ensuring the product is received exactly as intended.

Sam Dorman from Horseshoe Gin said, ‘We are really pleased with the striking colours, and the print quality is more than we could have asked for. Smurfit Kappa has managed to capture everything we were looking for from our new packaging, and we think it really reflects who we are as a brand. The real test is always in how customers and retailers receive a product, and we have had really positive feedback from both!’