Sin & Tonic is the market’s first low alcohol gin product, to be launched in July by The London Gin Company. A pioneering product with all the nose and flavour of gin and tonic but an alcohol content of only 0.3%, the pre-mix drink was strongly approved in consumer research conducted back in February. However, the packaging came in for criticism. The consumer panel felt the paper label proposed for the 250ml non-returnable glass bottle didn’t reflect the right image for a high-quality product.

London Gin considered total sleeving as the answer. Having no previous experience in this field, their purchasing department contacted the main producers. Viscose Closures proved to be the most responsive and offered the best lead time of only three weeks for the production of a full length shrink PVC body sleeve.

London Gin’s Chairman, Martin Gill, says "Viscose presented several designs, using a digital printer to give us samples that would be virtually identical with the finished product. Printing on to PVC direct from digital artwork also enabled costs to be minimised. The design we approved has a frosted appearance to suggest an iced drink, with the brand name Sin & Tonic and the slogan "Wickedly good taste!" in sharp red lettering.

Computer graphics techniques were applied to distort the artwork so it would read correctly when reproduced in the neck region of the bottle where maximum shrinkage takes place. The label is printed on 50 micron high-shrink PVC which is automatically reed-fed to the bottles by Redfearn, the glass producers. Viscose Closures are also supplying the ROPP aluminium caps with silver lettering printed on black to complement the label design.

Sin & Tonic will be launched in the Greater London area. Martin Gill believes it will have strong appeal for two main reasons. "Drivers will welcome a serious tasting drink that is virtually alcohol-free, and some eight million calorie counters in the UK will appreciate the very low calorie content of only 14 compared with 222 for an equivalent double gin and slimline tonic."

Currently the new product is being sold in to retail outlets, pubs, wine bars and restaurants.