25 September 2023
The brand Setop Diam, a Diam Bouchage company, has expanded its range of bartop closures for the spirits market with a new premium and entirely eco-designed concept called “Setop Element”. This project has been developed with a focus on two lines of research that are of prime importance for the French cork closure maker: design and naturality.
“With Setop Element, we wanted to respond to the challenges that spirit makers have to face in terms of respect for the environment, differentiation and a high degree of premiumization.”Alexandre Roux, Sales Director Setop Diam
A closure head that adds value to materials unused by spirit makers
The head, made from materials usually considered as naturally-occurring waste from spirit making (whisky distillers’ grains, apple pomace, lavender pomace, wood shavings, etc.), is a remarkable technological, aesthetic and environmental breakthrough.
Apart from the plant-based binding agent, the materials used are supplied by the distillers themselves, who are thus able to upcycle a raw material that is usually thrown away at the end of their production process. The origins of the Element project are firmly rooted in this philosophy of a circular economy.
A closure body in bio-sourced micro-agglomerate cork
Since 2017, Diam Bouchage has been offering a bio-sourced range of closures for still wines called Origine by Diam. These cork closures include a beeswax emulsion and binding agent made from 100% plant-derived polyols. After several months of research, the company saw the opportunity of applying this technology to its Setop Element products in order to provide its customers with an entirely eco-designed bartop closure.
Like all the brand’s bio-sourced closures, the body of the Setop Origine is OK Biobased® certified with a maximum 4-star rating. This label from TüV Austria guarantees the organic origin of the carbon content in products based on different analyses.
A manufacturing process designed with economy of materials in mind
The process used to manufacture Setop Element closures is the same regardless of the material used. It starts with a series of specific analyses in order to determine whether it is possible to use the raw materials under consideration in relation to the bottle and spirit concerned.
With regard to the closure body, the manufacture of a micro-agglomerate cork closure optimizes the yield of a sheet of cork in relation to the traditional cork-making industry and enables all the suberin to be used, which is often left aside when manufacturing tubed closures.
For the heads, the blend of natural material and bio-sourced binding agent is moulded-to-measure according to the distiller’s project. The moulds are therefore manufactured in the desired definitive form to ensure that trimming is kept to a minimum and so reduce the loss of raw material.
An innovation promoting the image and history of spirits
Beyond the environmental aspect, the Setop Element range provides spirit makers with an element of unique and personalised packaging, even in their choice of raw material.
“In order to give meaning to the closure design, each natural material used to produce the heads is carefully selected in order to enhance the closure’s specific aesthetics. For example, an ELEMENT closure in apple pomace enables the apple seeds to be clearly identified and the nature of this raw material is fully conserved.” Alexandre Roux.
The possibilities are endless and the research teams at Diam Bouchage work in close partnership with each customer so as to develop their own specific concept. Each closure is unique, as is each bottle, so end consumers are offered a complete sensorial experience when opening the bottle that is directly linked to the identity of the product they are about to enjoy.
"Many of our ongoing projects are confidential, but today you can already find two Setop Element closures on the market: the one made from whisky distillers’ grains developed with the Domaine des Hautes Glaces and the Lavender closure created for the Gin from Provence, Mistello du Vadrouilleur. We are very proud to have carried out such developments with these innovative distilleries!” Alexandre Roux.
The Setop Diam guarantee
The Diam guarantee of sensorial neutrality and consistency applies to the Setop Element, as it does to the classic Setop range.
Treated with the DIAMANT cork de-aromatization process, Setop closure bodies in micro-agglomerated cork are guaranteed without releasable TCA (<0.3ng/L) per unit. They are also perfectly consistent from one closure to another, which ensures optimum conservation safety over time.