Fun and Fresh Gift Packaging For Horseshoe Gin That “Pops”!

Horseshoe Distillery is an exciting new small-batch distillery in Northern Ireland that produces Irish dry gin - Horseshoe Gin. Made in County Down in a copper still named Gertie, Horseshoe Gin is a delicious but refreshingly different brand with a sophisticated yet funky modern take on this traditional tipple. Their tagline of “all Irish, no bull” captures their youthful, forward-thinking approach.

Horseshoe Gin’s packaging problem

The team at Horseshoe Gin wanted a single-bottle gift packaging solution that would boast a powerful presence and stand out on shelves.

So, they reached out to our team at Saxon Packaging, to design a gin gift box that would reflect their unique brand personality – bold and bright, with functionality at the heart of it. Instead of creating yet another “bog standard bottle and label”, the Horseshoe Gin team wanted to create a bottle packaging design that was decidedly more impactful and fun!

Our talented team created a bespoke gift packaging solution that was as tasty as the gin within, with a striking shelf presence and provided an outstanding unboxing experience for Horseshoe Gin’s customers.

Daring to be different

Horseshoe Gin introduced some hidden messages to the wrap-around printing on their glass bottles, alongside their signature swing top “pop” lid. The next step was to provide clever yet beautifully crafted gin gift packaging to complement this fun factor. 

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

 

Once the alignment was perfected, the team needed to ensure the bottle of gin wouldn’t move or twist inside the box when in transit, ensuring minimal product breakages and scuffing. Our team designed a sleek inner lid with eye-catching cut-outs to hold the fragile bottle with its quirky, yet cunning swing-top lid fixed firmly in place. The fun flowing design also encourages the customer to lift the box and turn the product, exploring the design whilst the bottle remains snugly in place.

No horsing around when it comes to striking packaging

The result was sleek and sophisticated gin gift packaging that will “stirrup” some interest amongst gin lovers. Our skilled team created a superb solution that functions seamlessly for the Horseshoe Gin Distillery staff packing the boxes and provides a flawless and fun unboxing experience for the consumer. 

With consumers increasingly demanding more sustainable packaging solutions from the brands they buy from, with 75% recycled fibre in our products, we were able to help the 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 also put a stop to twisting bottles during transit, ensuring the product is received exactly as intended, resulting in super satisfied customers. Importantly, the vivid new packaging also helps the product stand out on shelves in a crowded category. With so many options for consumers to choose from, a striking shelf presence is key to capturing a consumer’s eye in supermarkets and other retail environments.

Sam Dorman from Horseshoe Gin said “We’re really pleased with the striking colours and the print quality is more than we could have asked for. You’ve (Saxon Packaging) 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’ve had really positive feedback from both!”