Shortly after becoming brothers-in-law, Harrison Holditch and David Kapitanoff quickly discovered they had a shared passion for enjoying quality spirits almost as much as they loved the place they call home, Florida’s 30A region – a 24-mile stretch of beaches named for the road on which they sit, Florida’s Scenic Highway 30A.
Their big problem? There weren’t enough brands that paid attention to how spirits were made and their environmental impact.
The pair decided to act, channeling their love of craft spirits and their beach-side community into the founding of Distillery 98 in 2016. Specializing in developing small-batch spirits utilizing locally sourced ingredients, the brothers aimed to incorporate sustainability into every aspect of their distillation process.
Flash forward to 2023 and Distillery 98 is set to launch its newest spirit, Half Shell Vodka, and its one-of-a-kind recyclable paperboard bottle that will drastically reduce the carbon footprint of the company. When the duo found this bottle, they saw a future in which the spirits industry could easily become more sustainable.
Made from 94% recycled paperboard, Half Shell Vodka’s Frugal Bottle embodies the Florida Panhandle's legacy of community and sustainability by using six times less carbon than traditional glass bottles.
The Frugal Bottle comes from Frugalpac Limited, which has its own engineering innovation center in Ipswich, UK. The company supplies Frugal Bottles around the world and is developing more low-carbon packaging innovations for the market.
Frugalpac notes that the Frugal Bottle is five times lighter than glass and also offers 360-degree branding for exceptional shelf stand-out.
Frugalpac describes itself as “a sustainable packaging company with a global mission to decarbonize the food and drinks industry.”
“We create and supply recycled paper-based products with the lowest carbon footprint that are easily recycled again” with no need to go to landfill, the company’s website explains.
As for Distillery 98’s commitment to utilizing locally sourced ingredients, Half Shell sources its corn locally from the Florida Panhandle and leverages a distillation process that features a one-of-a-kind activated coconut carbon and oyster shell filtration system.
