UK-based cider brand Orchard Pig is planning to launch a new delivery service with the deployment of drones as part of its distribution network.
The Glastonbury-based company is experimenting with its own version of drone to deliver cider to UK consumers.
Several other US companies such as Walmart, Amazon, Google have been testing drone delivery but are yet to receive regulatory approval. The Orchard Pig team has introduced a humorous angle to the R&D project - by incorporating Gloucester Old Spots pig into the drone design.
Orchard Pig founder Andrew Quinlan said: "Orchard Pig has gone from strength to strength over the past three years and some people said it was impossible to make a hobby into a business. Well, we made the impossible, possible and now have used the delivery service to make pigs fly - because why not? By creating a delivery service we're proud of we want to show them that Orchard Pig is capable of doing anything the big companies do, without taking it too seriously."
"We come up against the big breweries all the time and it's a constant David and Goliath struggle - each week we're faced with new challenges. However, drones have surprisingly been our businesses biggest challenge to date but we've overcome bigger ones, so we're confident we'll get there."
During the first phase of testing, Orchard Pig's R&D team had problems while trying to carry out full testing of the service due to the strict object flying laws that prevent fly tests to be undertaken in certain premises. The weight restriction added to the problems. Due to the incumbent issues, the project is expected to be a lengthy one.
The company's delivery service made a few test flights this summer and it hopes to launch a full-fledged drone equipped cider delivery service in 2016.
Image: Orchard Pig comes up with unique delivery system. Photo: Courtesy of The Digital Newsroom.
