Wine maker eyes pack innovation amidst industry complacency

Tag : Carton Pack
Jean-Charles Boisset , president of the Boisset family estate, said that its use of anoctagonal multi layer carton for its French Rabbit brand ofvarietal wines had allowed the group to reduce material use by 90per cent compared to glass-based wines.

Although only five per cent of the company's wine output, whichtotals about 5m cases of wine annually, comes fromglass-alternative packaging, Boisset said that he believesoperational improvements can be achieved from innovation in thisarea for more immediate consumption wines.

Wine companies are facing a challenge in finding new ways topackage and distribute their products as part of wider calls forthe entire beverage industry to ensure sustainability in productionand sourcing.

The Prisma pack

Speaking over video link at an environmental conference beinghosted by Tetra Pak , which supplies the eight-sided Prisma packaging for the wine,Boisset said that the wine industry has been "complacent" inadapting to packaging innovations and needed to change.

The carton, which combines polyethylene and aluminium to protectthe wine from the impacts of UV rays, has a twist off plastic cap,making the product fully recyclable.

Besides the potential improvements of the Prisma pack regardingmaterial use, the company claims there are convenience benefits aswell related to using such packaging.

Boisset claimed that in opting for an octagonal product over themore traditional brick shape, the group have found a packaging thatis still eye catching, while allowing for easier fridge storage andshatter proof alternative to glass during the product distribution.

Glass alternative push

While not a solution for ageing wine, with the aluminium-linedPrisma packaging offering a maximum storage life of about 24months, Boisset said that he hoped to be part of a revolution inthe wine industry to encourage acceptance of new types of winepackaging.

"We are not keeping innovations such as the French rabbit packagingto ourselves," he stated. " By helping to encourage greater competition in the carton andalternative wine-packaging sector, we hope to actually create anentirely new segment in the industry."

Boisset suggested that the main challenge would be consumer andretailer attitudes to the notion of drinking a carton of wine,though with French Rabbit on sale across Canada as well as theStade de France in Paris, the message may be catching on.

With the product available in a number of countries worldwide, headded that demand in different markets for innovative new winepackaging was being driven by a variety of requirements.

These range from greater convenience in storing and transporting aproduct, to improved carbon footprint levels and other greenfactors.

However, the Boisset family remain far from the only wine grouphoping to expand into new areas for pack innovation.

Industry-wide focus

Back in March, major players in the UK wine industry said theywould team up with packagers and other stakeholders to improvecooperation in supplying lightweight glass bottles to tackleenvironmental concerns over the product.

The pledge was made at the closing of a forum between winemakers,retailers and their supply chain partners, which aimed to discussways of increasing the availability of lighter weight glassbottles.

Glass support

The decision followed the publication of findings by the Waste andResources Action Programme ( WRAP ),which suggest that manufacturing glass emitted less carbondioxide than manufacturing PET (polyethylene terephthalate ) on a per unit weight basis.

A number of groups including WRAP , as well as producers and packagers like Constellation Europe,Kingsland Wine & Spirits, and Ardagh Glass UK, attended theforum.

The participants agreed to improve communication and cooperation inthe supply chain from bottle makers up to retailers on how tobetter obtain light weight glass for packaging.

However, John Corbet-Milward, a technical director for industrybody the Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) said there was alot of work to be done in order to meet its green ambitions.

"This is a challenge facing the whole industry because it's clearthe UK wine sector needs to reduce the thousands of tonnes ofpackaging waste it produces every year," he stated. " We are pleased to have brought industry players face to face anddelighted they have agreed to work more closely in future on theissue of lighter weight bottles."

Wrap findings

According to the WRAP study, manufacturing glass is less carbonintensive than manufacturing PET on a per unit weight basis.

However, a PET wine bottle can be manufactured of lower weight thanthe glass equivalent and light weighting has been shown to reduceCO2 emissions with regard to transportation of loads.

BeverageDaily.com journalist Neil Merrett is attending this year'sconvention. His trip was funded by Tetra Pak.