Finding a new level

1 August 2012



Innovation in packaging can play a key role as companies in the wine sector search for new consumer sectors to drive growth in sluggish traditional markets, as David Longfield reports


Despite finding a level of acceptance in some markets in Europe, the concept of picking up a carton to pour a glass of wine at the end of a busy day doesn’t quite fit the bill for many British consumers, who on the whole prefer things the way they’ve ‘always been’. For wine, that tends to mean it comes in a glass bottle.

However if there were one company to take this bull by the horns, then it would be aseptic carton market leader Tetra Pak. The Swedish company announced in May that it was forming a partnership with Greencroft Bottling Company (part of the Lanchester Wine Group) to pack wine in cartons in the UK.

While wines have been available in the UK in imported 25cl or 1-litre cartons, the new partnership will compete head-on with the traditional glass market by packing wines in a 75cl size – said by Tetra Pak to be a first for the UK market.

Tetra Pak says that, globally, 8.6% of still wines are packed in cartons, with the strongest demand in Argentina, Chile, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Predicting a greater readiness on the part of UK consumers for the new format, the company cites research by UK-based research firm Wine Intelligence, showing that: “The general likelihood of consumers to purchase wine in cartons rose from 40% to 66% of respondents as a result of consumers seeing, feeling and experiencing wine packaged in this way.”

All-round ability

There are undoubted potential marketing advantages to packaging wine in cartons – in this instance Tetra Prisma, beginning with a range under the Italian Quarter banner. “The materials are much lower cost and the final product is extremely space efficient,” says Greencroft MD Mark Satchwell, “meaning more products can be merchandised on-shelf, maximising return per square foot.”

Cartons, he says, can also present clear branding and tier differentiation opportunities, providing a 100% printing surface area compared with a glass bottle’s more limited space on front and back labels, neck sleeve and capsule.

For retailers, the Greencroft operation, sited in the far north of England, will ship materials direct and run a third-day delivery service, giving flexibility and reducing stock-holding requirements.

On the environmental benefits of cartons, Tetra Pak UK retail manager Ian Williamson adds: “One million litres of wine packed in Tetra Prisma 75cl cartons can save up to 436 tonnes of packaging versus standard glass bottles. This means fewer trucks on the road and much less fuel required.”

News of the new partnership came just weeks before the announcement of the opening in 2013 of the UK’s first domestic beverage carton recycling facility – following an agreement between the Alliance for Beverage Cartons & the Environment (ACE) UK and paper and packaging producer Sonoco Alcore – based at the latter’s plant in Halifax, also in the north of England.

According to ACE UK, collection coverage for beverage cartons is already high, with 89% of households able to recycle cartons. Kerbside coverage in the UK has increased tenfold from 4% of local authorities in 2006 to 43% in 2012. Hitherto, used beverage cartons collected in the UK have been shipped for reprocessing in mills in Europe, notably to one site in Italy.

Taking aseptic cartons in a different direction, an Italian wine producer, Oneglass Wine, was in London for the annual LIWF UK wine industry trade fair in May. The company was promoting its Oneglass single serve wine range, consisting of two reds and two white wine styles from the Tuscany and Veneto regions, presented in bottle-shaped, 100ml multilayer LDPE/board/aluminium packs with tear-strip tops.

“The technology to make Oneglass is a mix of food industry and wine technology,” says the company’s CEO Piercarlo Zonato. “It took two years for testing and analysis, and to develop the first special machinery.”

The company is emphasising the lightweight, unbreakable characteristics and easy recyclability of Oneglass, in order to target outdoor or on-the-go consumption occasions, while keeping packaging costs to a minimum.

In-store display options for retailers include free-standing folded board units with Oneglass branding, with the packs displayed either loose in a dump bin, standing on shelves or hung on eurohooks.

Flexible approach

Newly available in 1.5-litre and 3-litre formats, Smurfit Kappa is targeting further growth in the wine sector with its free-standing Pouch-Up flexible pack. The flexo printed pouch consists of a three-film lamination metallised UV barrier film, 174 micron thick for the 1.5-litre size and 194 micron for the 3-litre, with a single gusset base for stability and ease of storage.

A Vitop compact external tap with tamper-evident aluminium seal ensures the Pouch-Up’s contents remain untainted by oxygen ingress during dispense, extending the shelf life of the product once opened.

In the supply chain, Pouch-Up does not require a secondary outer box which, along with its light weight of just 35g for the 1.5-litre size, brings “significant transport and storage efficiency”.

Kevin Heath, Smurfit Kappa bag-in-box sales director, Ireland and UK, says: “We believe Pouch-Up is the shape of things to come, transforming the look of the wine shelves and aisles, delivering a lighter take-anywhere pack with an 80% lower carbon footprint than glass packaging, and which is already well established with leading retailers, including Asda, which is launching four own-label wine pouches priced at £9.”

Pouch-Up is already in use in liquid foodstuffs markets including fruit juice and olive oil as well as premixed cocktails. The pack won a bronze Starpack award in 2011, and was a World Packaging Organisation WorldStar Winner for 2011-12.

Metal niche

Metal beverage container producer Ball Packaging sees great potential for wine sold in cans, saying that the market in Europe currently shows “double digit growth” compared with “static” sales of single-serve bottles. Smaller servings of wine in cans with innovative on-pack presentations can be particularly attractive to a younger target group of 18-35 year-old consumers, not traditional wine drinkers, the company says.

Ball is currently promoting its Protected Quality seal, particularly targeting premium wines with cans enhanced by an internal ‘lacquerspec’ coating and an increased metal gauge, toensure consistent quality, stability and a long shelf life of 12 months.

Protected Quality seal cans can be filled on any line, but fillers must pass stringent tests on hygiene and technical standards. Only audited fillers such as EB-Secco in Germany, Cacolac in France and Font Salem in Spain are chosen as partners.

“There are three new lines being installed in France and Germany this year, by companies looking for this new market,” says Ball Packaging marketing director Gerlof Toenhake. “They will be providing contract filling as well as their own products.”

Also seeking new niche markets for wine products, the UK’s number one wine company Accolade Wines launched, in May this year, a range of ready-to-serve wine cocktails in slim cans from Rexam Beverage Can, under the company’s two leading Australian wine brands, Hardys and Banrock Station. The 5.5% alcohol by volume range includes Peach Bellini and Strawberry Bellini mixes from Hardys, and a Banrock Station Infusions Summer Berries blend of wine, sparkling water and fruit.

The range complements Accolade’s two Echo Falls branded wine spritzer drinks launched in cans last November, similarly targeting the “health-conscious younger female” sector. The new RTS wine cocktails are intended to target both existing and brand-loyal wine drinkers.

“Our new RTS cans offer a level of convenience that currently hasn’t existed with trusted, recognisable brands in the wine category,” says Accolade Wines European marketing director Clare Griffiths. “With the launch of these new cans, we are spearheading the creation of a new category, which will open wine up to new consumers, with new drinking occasions.”

Capping it off

Following its recent launch of the Viiva screwcap closure for 750ml sparkling wine bottles, Guala Closures says it is beginning production in Australia on a newly developed “Rolls Royce of all machines” for producing its security seals on wine bottles.

Two years ago, Guala first released its Roll On Tamper Evident closures – which feature an integral, brightly coloured plastics ring that drops into view once a screwcap seal has been broken – particularly targeting “high risk” markets such as Asia, China and Russia, where counterfeiting can be a major problem.

“We are focusing a lot of our resources on this area,” says the company’s sales & marketing manager Simon Yudelevich. “I look at it more from a brand protection angle – being proactive rather than reactive,” he adds.

This year, Australian wine producer Tim Adams has become the first to adopt the Roll On TE system. The closures are produced on the new patented machinery built especially for Guala in Melbourne, at the same location as the company’s aluminium facility.

“There is no barrier to adoption,” says Yudelevich. “The customer can run it on the same production line using the same equipment as normal.” The risk of counterfeiting is much reduced though, he says, as the cost of setting up machinery of this type would be “very high”.

Although Yudelevich says it is a “very complicated process”, any additional cost to the customer is negligible, estimated at “about 2 cents per bottle”. The Guala Roll On TE design won an Alufoil trophy in March this year, awarded by the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA).


Accolade Wines’ new wine cocktails range Accolade Wines Tetra Pak is targeting the UK wine market with 75cl cartons Tetra Pak Guala Roll On Tamper Evident closures for wine Guala Oneglass cartons: Italian wines in single serving packs Oneglass

Oneglass Oneglass
Accolade Wines Accolade Wines
Tetra Pak Tetra Pak
Guala Guala


Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.