Waitrose has ended a trial of on-tap wine and beer refills, introduced as part of its wider Unpacked initiative to cut unnecessary packaging.

The chain initially began the test two years ago at a store in Oxford with products from wine supplier When In Rome and brewer Toast.

Months after the trial began, Waitrose said the drinks had achieved “phenomenal results”, but communications manager Matt Clemens told DR this week: “Unpacked was designed to test different refillable concepts.

“Unpacked beer and wine was not as popular as some other concepts trialled so this has been removed while we consider how it could function in future iterations.”

Waitrose is continuing to sell refills of basic food items such as rice and pasta introduced at the time of the Unpacked launch.

Meanwhile, Somerset independent Eight Stony Street is trying to encourage use of its refill wines with a loyalty scheme.

The Frome-based retailer is offering a bottle of house wine when customers complete 10 bottle refills.