Packaging Suppliers Unveil New Products Companies Share Innovations in Design, Label Stock, Glass and Much More by Jane Firstenfeld

PACKAGING Packaging Suppliers Unveil New Products Companies share innovations in design, label stock, glass and much more By Jane Firstenfeld

very year, wine industry suppliers of all types submit hundreds of list- ings touting their newest products and services. Their entries are in- cluded in the supplier guide starting on page 40. For readers seeking E packaging options, we combed the earliest entries and contacted them with specific questions about their offerings.

Concept and design Britton commented, “We didn’t want to change Deciding on a new or re-designed package is always the look, so I designed a two-part label. The upper extremely time consuming and should ideally begin label remains the same, except copper foil stamp- months (if not years) in advance. Wineries in the ing was changed to silver foil. The bottom band depths of decision may find inspiration and expert holds a special hand-lettered ‘25th’ with silver advice from an ongoing series of webinars hosted foil-stamped dates 1990 and 2015.” The screwcap by Sterling Creative. capsule is marked “25th Anniversary.” After this Cynthia Sterling explains that each webcast is celebratory vintage, the label will revert to a devoted to a specific branding or packaging chal- single layer. lenge. Past topics have included “Harness the Power Dan Mills Productions is well known in the wine of Color,” “Naming Your Brand,” “Branding Luxury” industry by virtue of its photography and design. and “The New Tastemakers: How to Use Sensory Clients include Constellation Brands, Trinchero Perception to Increase Brand Enjoyment.” Family Estates, Jackson Family Wines, Bronco, Most events include presentations from Sterling Duckhorn, Patz & Hall, Grgich Hills, Orin Swift, and distinguished guests. Between 90 and 150 V2, Don and Sons Wine, TOR Wines and Wente people typically register, and some 70% attend live Family Estates. to participate in the Q&A segment. To accommo- This year, Mills moved his fully equipped studio date varied schedules, a recorded replay of the from Napa to Petaluma. “Sonoma County is my event is sent to each registrant, with links and new home—what a difference,” he said. resources included. Anyone can sign up at ster- Washington state’s Sara Nelson Designs intro- lingcreativeworks.com. duced digital models for all her packaging clients. Familiar veteran designers continue to create The models fully display the concept so clients savvy work for clients old and new. Patti Britton can see it on the right bottle, with the right color Designs created a popular, eye-catching label for Ferrari-Carano Siena wines that has been used for Digital models (above) allow clients of Sara Nelson De- 24 vintages. To celebrate the 25th anniversary, signs a preview of their finished packaging concepts.

76 WINES&VINES November 2017 PACKAGING of wine inside and the chosen capsule and Materials: the ‘A list’ KEY POINTS other embellishments, allowing them clearly Amcor Rigid Plastics provides PET bottles in to visualize the finished product. The service sizes from 375 ml on up, and it’s working to A deeper look into the earliest responders is free to all clients, who are free to make make all these stock options by the end of this to our November packaging listings offers changes and adjustments—a normal part of year. A glass spray barrier prevents wine from details about advantages, pricing and the process. ever coming into contact with the plastic, ac- more. cording to marketer Jeff Chang. Once the From design to bottling, virtually every as- Over the top smaller sizes are available in stock, lead-time pect of the arduous packaging process One thing we know for sure, checking on every for orders will be only “a couple of weeks.” continues to evolve to serve the wine part of the process is vital in effective packag- When it comes to paper labels, Avery Den- industry. ing. Janson Capsules has added press checks nison’s Aqua Opaque technology preserves for decorated screwcaps at its Napa plant. Vice white appearance even in ice bucket condi- If you’re in the market for improvements to president of sales Melanie Thomas reported tions. The technology is in the adhesive, which packages or processes, keep on shopping that three or four customers come in every can be combined with any face-stock or texture in the listings, starting on page 40. Contact week to create designs and choose colors. and can be foiled. The solvent-free Z 1010 information is included there. Something as small as the position of the de- emulsion adhesive works with standard face- sign on the caps can make a big difference in stock widths and stiffness, according to associ- are using direct silkscreen bottle printing, ac- the final impact. ate product manager Stephanie D’Cruz. cording to founder Bill Hamilton. Ardagh Direct invites clients to its new Napa Shrink sleeve bottle wraps have gained office to meet face to face and view its gallery acceptance in recent years. Waterloo Con- of glass products. Wineries of all sizes located tainer has a high-speed applicator and steam west of the Rocky Mountains may purchase tunnel, and can quickly convert from sleeve bottles in a variety of sizes, colors and styles to non-sleeve jobs to prioritize repack orders, direct from the producer. Less-than-truckload according to marketing and project coordina- (LTL) quantities are available. tor Bobbi Stebbins. Waterloo currently stocks more than 450 See it in print different bottles in its warehouse. Customers Vintage 99 Label launched technology that can source their own preferred sleeves for au- gives wine branders “a front row seat” to shop- tomated or hand application. Once the sleeves per behavior by deploying and managing in- are on, the bottles are sent to the winery ready teractive labels with iQ-dio. Wine, beverage to fill. and product label specialist Brian Lloyd said Waterloo asks for four to six weeks of lead- only four wineries are currently using the sys- time for major sleeve jobs, to allow time for tem, which adds nothing to packaging prices, production and scheduling. It can produce as since Vintage 99 pays to add it to the label. many as 2,000 cases of sleeves per day, and With a dynamic QR system, changes to con- projects are coordinated with other special tent can happen without reprinting labels. It package needs like custom bottles or closures. shows winery monitors a real-time “dash- As with all aspects of the packaging process, board” that displays how long the customer “Forecasting and planning are key elements,” viewed the online content and tracks which Stebbins stressed. She noted that many clients varietal they are most interested in. have added sleeves and observed that “sleev- McDowell Packaging’s new Digital Combi- ing” has increased more than 50% in 2017, nation blends traditional brand augmentation compared to previous years. technologies including foil stamping, micro Sleeves provide an economical way to embossing of stereograms, rotary screenprint- transform a less-expensive bottle with 360º ing, doming and tactile features driven by a graphics, and can work on unusual shapes of digital print engine. bottles. “The enhanced value perception can John M. McDowell said many brand owners already are using this program, due to the many changes naturally incumbent within the wine industry: vintage, varietal, appellation. The program enables “freedom of design” with- out incurring cost-prohibitive setups for emerg- ing or trending ideas or personalization for marketing to a region, retailer or event. Crisp-Dot-Technology is also an integral part of McDowell’s service—both for front-end pre-press software and in-line printing plat- forms. The sharp dots bring smooth vignettes, high-definition screen tone transition and spot- on detail for graphic-intensive and photo- graphic images. One87 now offers pressure-sensitive labels, The 25th anniversary Siena design Patti Britton cre- direct silkscreen printing, heat-transfer labels Vintage 99 Label offers iQ-dio interactive labels to ated for Ferrari-Carano includes a secondary label. and, most recently, shrink sleeves. Most clients help wineries understand consumer behavior.

November 2017 WINES&VINES 77 PACKAGING

be realized with an increased forated unit to match bottle count, price-point,” Stebbins said. With using a small tabletop machine cutouts, special effects and tex- that runs on 110 volts. tures, sleeves offer brand differ- High internal air pressure gives entiation. Waterloo also offers cushioning but is clear to let the eight-color UV glass screen- receiver view the contents. The printed bottles. “shrouds” are fully curbside recy- Shiny and shimmery is the new clable, according to Inflatable black for wine packaging, as we Packaging owner Mich Tschantz. reported in our October packaging As many as 18,000 units fit on a feature. Kurz Transfer Products single shipping pallet. introduced a novel process that applies foil directly to the glass, Stock the tasting room no label required, according to From all our research into tasting marketing coordinator April Lytle. rooms, we’ve learned that every Lytle said the process is still one has a retail section, and that relatively new to North America, most of the best sellers are but European wineries have had branded items. Proforma Wine many successful projects with it. Country, a woman-owned Napa business, brings them to clients Put it in the bottle with a solar-powered mobile McDowell Packaging’s technologies include foil stamping, micro embossing, Mobile bottlers provide such an showroom. Custom products in- rotary screenprinting and tactile features driven by a digital print engine. important service to small winer- clude shirts, vests, jackets, pet ies that cannot support an in- goods and more: more than 1 mil- house bottling line. AT Mobil lion items in all. Owner and cre- added a second mobile bottling ative director Teri Beauchamp line. Both provide self-contained says she can provide “everything nitrogen generators, in-line dry but the wine.” Wine club premi- ink case printing (which saves a ums are another specialty. person and a label), laser bottle Trade shows are another venue coding for time and date and hot for getting your brand out there glue case closure, which looks bet- with logo items, and Proforma ter and lasts longer, according to Wine Country specializes in these. owner John Davis. A staff artist can help create logo Steam Sterilization on both products in consultation with mar- trucks provides the Four Big E’s keting departments, managers (economy, efficiency, effectiveness and owners. and environmental). The new, Most apparel and accessories can MINI bottling and labeling line is be ordered and decorated within one designed especially for small lots, to two weeks; rush service is avail- and fills bottles from 375 ml to 18 able. Wine club gifts may take one liters, Davis said. to three months for delivery. Beauchamp has more than 100 Ship it away winery clients in California as well When your precious bottles are as 15 in Texas, 75 in Oregon, 50 ready to go, you’ll want to protect in Washington state and 15 in Vir- them in transit. Traditional ship- ginia. Wine country-related busi- pers use partitions for wine cases. nesses also use the service. The Great American Paper (GAP Pack- solar-powered mobile showroom aging) provides an upgraded ver- allows California businesses to sion of these to box suppliers touch, feel and try on available including Orora North America, products prior to ordering. Saxco and Tricor Braun, as well as international wine monarch Keep on shopping Treasury Wine. As mentioned earlier, this feature The chip board partitions are is just the tip of the iceberg. If especially green: fabricated from these categories have whet your 100% recycled post-consumer mill- appetite, find contacts for these grade board, according to vice and similar vendors listed under president of sales Jim Lindsay. “Packaging” starting on page 36. Or you could blow them away As always, we urge that you with auto-inflatable wine packag- begin working with your packag- ing that allows shipments of one ing suppliers early in the game, These packages from Waterloo show screen-printed and full-sleeve options. to 12 bottles by changing the box and coordinate every piece of the The company applies sleeves in a steam tunnel. size. Just tear the inflatable per- puzzle so it fits seamlessly.

78 WINES&VINES November 2017