New Zealand's message in a beer bottle

A group of students have designed the perfect bottle to take New Zealand's craft beer across Asia.

In case you missed the memo: today is International Beer Day! We can think of one way to mark the occasion, but a group of students have come up with a more productive tribute.

With the hope of taking New Zealand's craft beer to Asia, Glass manufacturer O-I invited Unitec students to design a bottle that captured the essence of New Zealand and has broad appeal across China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The final design, 'The Provider', brings to mind ceramic hand-crafted trading bottles and comes in 888ml and 258ml sizes – numbers which are particularly lucky in China.

O-I New Zealand’s Business Development Manager, Bayard Sinnema says the Asian market could provide valuable opportunites for New Zealand's craft beer producers.

"We’ve identified five potential markets for the project whose population, income per capita and growing appetite for craft beer make them perfect places to serve Kiwi products from the Provider bottle."

Bayard hopes local brewers will take up the chance to use the bottle design as well as the support O-I can offer them as they grow their business.