House of Suntory undergoes packaging refresh

Beam Suntory's House of Suntory has refreshed its premium packaging for Yamazaki single malt, Hibiki and Hakushu single malt.

This first-ever global repackaging initiative for the House of Suntory, which has previously featured its expressions in similar, but unique carton designs, claims to have set out to provide consumers with a more recognisable and consistent, premium.

Takahiro Itoga, senior global brand director at Beam Suntory says: "With the growing number of entrants to the burgeoning Japanese Whisky category, we wanted to redesign our gift cartons so consumers can more easily distinguish the Suntory brands on retail shelves and back-bars. As the founding house of Japanese whisky, it is important to us to communicate a unified look for the depth and breadth of our award-winning portfolio as well as to provide a more consistent story for consumers to discover while exploring our products."

Each brand will be referenced through a redesigned and more prominent kanji, which is a Japanese symbol that represents a word or idea. Additional changes to the gift carton include a new brand logo and updated verbiage for the back of the carton, as well as product descriptions and tasting notes.

Throughout 2018, the refreshed premium packaging for Yamazaki 12 Years Old, Hibiki Japanese Harmony and Hakushu 12 Years Old boxes will reach retail shelves. By the end of 2019, refreshed packaging boxes for all House of Suntory whisky expressions will be available. Since Suntory Whisky Toki, introduced in 2016, is not packaged in a box, the expression will not receive any packaging updates.

27 April 2018 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, news editor