Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail
Pernod Ricard and Link collaborate by using ground-breaking lifecycle analysis technology to create award-winning premium gift solutions
The challenge
Link and Pernod Ricard’s partnership began in 2018, with Link being awarded an exclusive contract to develop and source luxury GWP items for Pernod’s 240 premium brands in travel retail outlets across 160 countries worldwide.
In 2020, Link’s team took the opportunity to review Pernod’s merchandise catalogue range to identify opportunities for rationalization and product design improvements. Pernod’s flagship gift, the trolley bag, was identified as a potential opportunity for positive change. It was a heavy, bulky item which was expensive to ship and store. Made from a hard plastic material, the item came with a relatively heavy environmental footprint.
Utilising Link’s unique product lifecycle analysis (PLA) sustainability calculator, our team set about changing the product design and materials, focused on creating a more practical product with a lighter environmental footprint.
The results
Link’s ground-breaking PLA tool provides detailed scope 2 and 3 carbon impact data, and proactively offers alternative specifications to help reduce the environmental impact. Link used this tool to gather emissions data for the material, manufacture, packaging and shipping elements of the Trolley Bag. The data generated by Link’s calculator was used to create an improved product made from lightweight recycled material, with a reduction in environmental impact of 34%, saving over 19 tonnes of CO2 emissions on each order. Made from 100% recycled fibre, the product’s softer material and collapsible design also delivered a 70% reduction in shipping and storage costs.
By working in collaboration, Pernod Ricard and Link have created an award-winning sustainable trolley bag with a significantly reduced carbon footprint. In October 2022, the initiative won the ‘People & Planet’ category in the prestigious Frontier Awards.
“Pernod Ricard is committed to creating innovative products that continue to grow our market share and fulfil our sustainability commitments. Our collaboration with Link is helping us to make those commitments a reality.”
Stuart Swanson - Procurement Category Manager, Pernod