Page 22 - Grapevine NovDec 2020
P. 22
In The Winery
“It controls product flow and pattern building, There is also a trend of putting higher quality
effectively reducing machine footprint, costs and wine into alternative forms of packaging, hoping
changeover time,” Dale Andersen, the president to change the perception of non-bottled wine and
and CEO of Delkor, told The Grapevine Magazine. open up people’s minds about what makes a good
“With Intelligent Synchronization, Delkor has been wine. These higher-quality offerings, paired with
able to reduce the footprint of its wine can carton more creative marketing and advertising strategies,
loader or wine can carton case packer to just a six- catch new consumers’ attention. That attention
by-six-foot frame and reduce machine changeover then propels alternative packaging products for-
to less than eight minutes.” ward and opens up the market for new packaging
players with innovative ideas.
Andersen said that this technology would even-
tually replace current case packer designs because Orr of TORR Industries has noticed a huge growth
it does electronically what many machines cur- in the bag-in-box wine industry and much more
rently to do mechanically. This “smart machine” demand since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
eliminates guide work and other machine points He said that canned wine has seen a growth curve
that cause both container and label damage, so of around 1%, where bag-in-box packaging is closer
it is natural for use in the wine industry. In 2021, to 20% of wine sales, up from approximately 15% a
Delkor will be introducing a compact Performance couple of years ago.
Case Packer for wine bottles and one for bottle
unloading – both with its patented Intelligent “I attribute this to the fact that the stigma of
Synchronization. boxed wine is going away since this is a great
Following What’s In-demand option for not having to drink the whole bottle
because coronavirus is leading to more home con-
While weighing the options of packaging types to sumption and because of better techniques to con-
use for wine, learn about what’s most in-demand trol the oxygen.”
with consumers right now and why. Currently,
top priorities among wine drinkers, especially the Orr said that his company is building and sell-
younger generation, are portability, on-the-go ing equipment to top wineries because it injects
usage and discretion. Alternative containers can nitrogen and vacuums the bag to purge the oxy-
also offer the benefits of being less breakable and gen before filling. In this way, his machinery gets
having a different type of wine for your second oxygen levels down under 2% rather than the 20%
glass instead of committing to an entire bottle of standard that this packaging used to have with
the same wine. older technology.
Bag-in-box wine has become increasingly popular Andersen of Delkor has observed that the move-
during the COVID-19 pandemic because of budget ment of wine into cans is a significant change in
concerns and more time spent at home rather than the industry. He and Ryan Broughton, Delkor’s
going out to wineries and bars. Even before this, sales manager, told The Grapevine Magazine that
bag-in-box wine gained significant traction among what their customers in the beverage industry are
younger drinkers between the ages of 21 and 35. talking about most is single-serve. Cans offer an
Another consumer demand is a heightened focus alternative for a new class of wine consumers not
on environmental sustainability, which can be focused on the quality aspects of glass bottles, but
addressed through packaging design. more on convenience. According to Andersen, “one
could make the argument that this is a totally new
Wine Packaging Trends market opportunity, so it is making the circle bigger
rather than taking market share away from current
It may be essential to observe wine trends when wine sales.”
reconsidering how to package wine. Right now,
there is a movement to make wine more affordable Choosing the Right Packaging
and accessible to new consumers – often younger
consumers who have different standards and pref- Each type of wine packaging has its benefits, so
erences than wine drinkers who have been enjoy- the choice largely comes down to the winery’s
ing bottles for decades. goals, budget and target consumer. However, dif-
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