Paper Matters in Fragrance Packaging

How bespoke paper and custom colour are helping Abel create distinctive, lower-impact fragrance packaging – through considered manufacture rather than convention.

For more than a decade, Abel and Progress Packaging have worked in close partnership, developing packaging that reflects a shared belief in long-term thinking, responsible material choices and clarity of intent. Across multiple fragrance projects, this relationship has continually evolved – each iteration refining how premium perfume packaging can be manufactured with both integrity and restraint.

The latest project accompanies Abel’s reformulated fragrance range and showcases their refreshed brand identity and packaging by Base Design. While the scents themselves have been reimagined through advances in biotechnology and natural perfumery, the packaging reflects an equally deliberate shift. Rather than relying on conventional luxury rigid boxes, the new range moves towards a carton-based format – one that uses less material, simplifies construction and allows paper to play a far more central role in defining brand character.

At the heart of this change is a bespoke paper, specified and manufactured exclusively for Abel, and used consistently across the entire fragrance range.

Bespoke paper with measurable impact

One of the defining elements of this latest project – with the whole process managed throughout by Progress – is the development of a custom-coloured paper, created to give Abel’s packaging a soft, understated elegance while delivering clear environmental benefits. Rather than treating sustainability as an add-on, the paper itself was developed to align with the brand’s values from the outset.

Manufactured in the UK using 100% recycled fibre, the paper combines 75% post-consumer waste with 25% reclaimed material from used coffee cups. Through a carefully controlled manufacturing process, these fibres are refined and blended into a premium-grade substrate that delivers the strength, consistency and surface quality required for luxury fragrance packaging.

Compared with more conventional paper stocks and construction typically used in premium packaging, the bespoke paper and carton construction achieves up to a 95% reduction in carbon footprint. For brands and designers, this demonstrates how early, informed decisions around materials – guided by experienced packaging manufacturing specialists – can deliver measurable environmental benefits without compromising aesthetic quality or customer experience.

Rather than treating sustainability as an add-on, the paper itself was developed to align with the brand’s values from the outset.

Progress help brands and designers understand how paper choice affects not just sustainability credentials, but manufacturability, performance and finish throughout the production process.

From recycled fibre to premium substrate

Recycled papers are often assumed to limit creative or technical possibilities, particularly in luxury applications. This project challenges that perception. Progress worked closely with leading paper makers James Cropper, whose expertise in fibre recovery and paper manufacturing enables post-consumer materials to be transformed into refined, high-performance substrates.

At scale, fibres are carefully sorted, cleaned and processed to ensure consistency, strength and reliable print performance. This allows the paper to support detailed embossing, debossing and restrained foil finishes, while retaining a natural tactility that reinforces Abel’s understated brand language.

For Progress, involvement at this stage of the supply chain is critical. By working closely with paper manufacturers and specifying materials at fibre level, Progress helps brands and designers understand how paper choice affects not just sustainability credentials, but manufacturability, performance and finish throughout the production process

Rethinking cartons for luxury fragrance

A key decision within the project was the move away from traditional paper-over-board rigid boxes in favour of carton formats manufactured from a single bespoke substrate. By reducing material layers and simplifying construction, the packaging system improves recyclability while maintaining a premium look and feel.

Progress currently manufactures multiple carton sizes and SKU variants within the range, specifying different paper weights to suit each format and engineering the structures to protect the glass fragrance bottles during storage and transit. Subtle detailing – such as blind embossing, raised emboss and matte foil finishes – allows the paper itself to take centre stage, reinforcing both tactility and brand distinction.

For fragrance, beauty and luxury brands exploring alternatives to rigid boxes, this project demonstrates how cartons can deliver equivalent brand value and customer experience, with added environmental benefits. As fragrance packaging manufacturing specialists, Progress continues to support clients through these transitions – helping translate creative ambition into responsible, scalable packaging solutions built to perform.

A shared ethos, developed over time

This latest range builds on a long-standing relationship between Abel and Progress, following earlier projects that explored recyclable fragrance cartons and mono-material packaging systems. Previous collaborations, such as the Abel Pause project, investigated similar principles around material reduction and responsible specification, with each project refining how luxury fragrance packaging can be manufactured with less complexity and greater intent.

See the case study find out more about our latest luxury custom carton packaging project for Abel.

Where Could Bespoke Paper or Format Change Take Your Packaging?

If you’re interested in exploring custom and unique coloured paper, or alternative packaging formats to reduce impact without compromising brand value, our team can help guide you through the material, manufacturing and production considerations. Get in touch to discuss what’s possible for your packaging.