• Bottling Time
• I Say Left, You Say Up
• Eco-Sense
• Perfect Pricing
• News ‘n Notes

Gorgeous Bottles Galore
This is a reminder that Global Package has a great selection of beautiful, high-quality bottles in stock and ready to ship. You can select from our Elegant Light line of bottles, which are specifically designed to match the look of heavier ‘fancy glass’ packaging, but without the higher price and environmental negatives. Or you can choose from our best-selling bottles— Bordeaux Max, Bordeaux Daniel, and the Burgundy Bella. Our Vitae bottle is shown below. Sourced from top specialists in design and manufacturing from around the world, our glass is top quality and our service is, well, it’s simply the best. Check out our website at www.globalpackage.net or call 707-224-5670.

Selling Overseas
Here’s a fascinating language study by Stanford researcher, Lera Boroditsky, that has implications for marketers around the world. Apparently, concepts that we in the US take for granted — such as time, space, and color — can have dramatically different meanings in other cultures. For example, we think of time on a horizontal plane — the left is ‘past’ and on the right is the ‘future.’ Mandarin speaking people, however, view time on a vertical plane, with the ‘past’ above, the ‘future’ below, and new events “emerging from the ground like a spring of water.” In English, we have many verb forms that convey time; e.g., I will make dinner, I am making dinner, or I will make dinner. Indonesians, on the other hand, don’t make those time distinctions … they ‘make’ dinner in all three cases. Color, too, has interesting differences across cultures. Russian speakers don’t “have a single word for blue that covers all shades of what English speakers would call blue.” Where we would say light or dark blue, they have distinct words for each shade. Click here for more examples of language disparities global marketers should be aware of: http://www.stanfordalumni.org/news/magazine/2010/mayjun/features/boroditsky.html

Weight Reduction
Even conservative French Champagne producers are opting for lighter glass. In an effort to reduce their carbon footprint, the Comité Interprofessionnel des Vins de Champagne (CIVC) has approved new 65g lighter bottles, which will, according to the CIVC, “cut Champagne industry carbon dioxide emissions by 8,000 tons, equivalent to that of 4,000 cars … the CIVC goal is to cut carbon emissions by 25% from 2003 levels by 2020, and by 75% by 2050.” Here in the US, the Glass Packaging Institute is likewise committed to reducing its carbon footprint by intensifying 2009 recycling efforts. Its goal is to effectively “double the U.S. glass container recycling rate (28% in 2008) to allow manufacturers to use 50% recycled glass or ‘cullet’ to make new glass containers, saving enough energy to power 21,978 homes for one year and removing 181,550 tons of waste from landfills every month.” In addition, the Institute is working to “create more recycling awareness and improve recycled glass collection for bottle-to-bottle recycling, helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use of raw materials, extend the life of glass manufacturing furnaces, and save energy.” Click here for the Champagne article: http://www.just-drinks.com/article.aspx?id=100135 and here for the Glass Institute article: http://www.gpi.org/learn-about-glass/glassnews/whats-ahead-2010-north-america.html
Pricing Puzzler
I loved this fun piece in the blogosphere that cited research that shows that American wine drinkers all have a price point where they feel comfortable, whether it’s $5 a bottle, $25 or $125.” The best part of the findings is that whatever that price point is, the American consumer believes that anything cheaper is mouthwash and anything more expensive is a ripoff. In other words, the consumer always buys wine that’s priced just right. The research puts a wrinkle in the ‘price’ factor in the 4P’s marketing wisdom of price, product, promotion, and placement. Take a read here: http://wblakegray.blogspot.com/2010/05/wine-is-always-priced-just-right.html
News ‘n Notes
Datamonitor’s Wine: Extended Global Industry Guide predicts that the global wine market in 2013 to have a value of $286 billion, an increase of 10.1% since 2008. It also reports that in the global wine market still wine sales are the most lucrative, Europe leads in sales, and supermarkets and hypermarkets are the most important distribution channel. You can buy the Guide here: http://www.justdrinks.com/store/product.aspx?id=89155&lk=dm … In the UK, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recommended a minimum price and tougher advertising rules for alcoholic drinks to “tackle the health and social problems related to excess drinking”(http://www.just-drinks.com/news/drinks-trade-rejects-health-bodys-alcohol-report_id100910.aspx?lk=dm … The fourth Asian Vinexpo last month “pushed exporters to focus on the world’s most promising market: China.” According to Vinexpo, although Japan remains the region’s biggest wine importer, China is expected to become the world’s seventh-largest wine consumer by 2013. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/vinexpo-asia-china-drives-world-wine-market-1982361.html … Forget the screwcap, a bottlecap now tops Vincor, Canada’s new Naked Grape Spritzer http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2010/05/naked-grape-spritzers.html#more

• Nouveau Demographic
• Camels Redux
• Whiskey Behavior
• Innovation Ovations
• News ‘n Notes

New Affluents

According to a recent study from Dwell Strategy and Research, San Francisco, a new class of elite consumer has emerged over the past few years: the “new affluents.” With an average age of (surprise!) 45, these folks are making purchasing decisions based not on impressing others, but on a brand’s “aesthetics, innovation, integrity, originality, authenticity, design and performance.” They also have the economy and the environment top-of-mind when they buy. For marketers wanting to reach this group, interaction is key. According to the study, the new affluents expect to have a relationship with their favored brands, so texting, tweeting, and posting on social networks will become de rigueur for marketers who wish to win over this generation of nouveau riche. The study’s main takeaway for us is that we need to “cultivate relationships” and “create experiences.” Wise advice; we at Global Package are tweeting and texting, too  To view a summary of the study on Ad Age, click here: http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=143147″

Hello Kitty Wines

Hello Kitty?

If you haven’t seen this already, check out Stephen Colbert’s hilarious riff on the new Hello Kitty brand line of wines where he congratulates Sanrio for “having the guts to put a kids cartoon character on alcohol,” telling kids to remember that “this awesome new product is not for you, so ignore the pretty pink color and the shiny gold heart on the bottle. . .and the fact that it’s small enough to put in your lunchbox.” For a LOL good time, click here: http://bit.ly/9ODYo7

According to the Hello Kitty Wines website, “Sanrio’s delightful kitten had much more potential than its designers imagined and has gone from a school product for teenagers to a global fashion brand for all ages.” Really? Wasn’t Joe the Camel the same sort of questionable sales gimmick? We all need to keep in mind that building a viable brand these days demands careful attention to not only sales opportunity, but ethics as well. Here’s the Hello Kitty Wines website link http://mwcimporterforhellokittywine.com/

Blended Scotch and Asian Whiskeys

We found this recent piece in the SF Chronicle interesting. It appears there’s a “rising tide” of Japanese and other Asian whiskeys coming on the market; and many of them are winning praise among aficionados and critics alike, such as India’s Amrut Fusion, which was ranked in the 2010 Whiskey Bible as the “third finest Whiskey in the World.” While Asian whiskeys are finding a enthusiastic consumers here in the US, American whiskeys are eyeing India and China for their future prosperity. According to a recent report released by The International Wine and Spirit Record (IWSR) and just-drinks.com, these two emerging economies hold great promise for many spirits categories, including blended Scotch whiskeys, because they both are “culturally open to alcohol,” are enjoying rapid economic development, and have a growing class of “newly affluent consumers.” There are barriers to entry, however, including inadequate distribution systems and import taxes. Read more here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/04/11/FDN11CMU7U.DTL and here: http://www.just-drinks.com/article.aspx?id=100435&lk=dm

Industry Inventors

Global Package at WSWA 2010

This year was the first year we exhibited at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) Show in Las Vegas (see photo below). . .and what a show! It’s always so energizing to see the package design innovations happening in the spirits world. But wine packaging is not far behind. We were reminded of that fact after hearing news last month of the death at age 92 of South Australian grape grower Thomas Angove, the man credited with inventing bag-in-box wine. We’d earlier learned about the creative team at Crushpad, which joined Healdsburg-based startup TastingRoom Inc. to develop the unique flight-test mini-bottle concept. Then later in Wine Business Monthly we read about the introduction of the new ZORK Sparkling Wine closure, also from Australia. And there are the new Pewter labels that are being used on high-end oils, wines, and spirits (see the Grove 45 package on the right that was designed by Sausalito’s Through Smoke Design team).

Grove 45 Pewter Labels

Last, but certainly not least, at the the North Bay Business Journal Wine Conference last month we were impressed with Jean Charles Boisset’s presentation on package innovation. President of Boisset-America and Vice President of Boisset La Famille des Grands Vins, Boisset told the audience about his vision to “Respect nature by minimizing external factors on her” and “Add creativeness and value for the consumer.” His company is introducing wine in tetrapak and aluminum packaging. Of course, we at Global Package continue to “think outside the box” to bring you eco-friendly, distinct, and classic bottles, as well as custom decoration and unique label design. Kudos to our clever cohorts! Click here for Boisset’s lecture:

http://www.boissetfamilyestates.com/The%20Pursuit%20of%20DesignCompostmodernVIDEO.aspx

News ‘n Notes

Now in Stock: Global Package’s new bottle, the Bordeaux Venus Magnum, is not too tall, sports a strong taper, and is perfectly proportioned for bottling ease and to match your cool tapered 750ml bottles. Check it out in our Elegant Light lineup. . . On Politics: We’re encouraged by the Massachusetts’ 1st Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling last month in favor of Family Winemakers of California that says the state’s 30,000 gallon cap is unconstitutional, hopefully paving the way for small winemakers to both ship direct and take part in the three-tier system (http://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataid=70604). Also controversial was the Napa supervisors’ vote to back WDO changes, “relaxing marketing rules, allowing business meetings on the agricultural preserve, doing away with appointment-only signs for tastings, and creating an independent special events permit, or SEP, for cultural events such as weddings.” Would love to hear your views on the topic; reply to this newsletter or go to our Global Package Facebook page. Here’s the Biz Journal piece: (http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/19015/napa-supervisors-back-some-changes-to-winery-ordinance/)

Global Package Bottles at the White House

All bragging aside, it appears Global Package bottles are indeed on the best-of- the-best list. Oded Shakked, winemaker and surf instructor for Longboard Vineyards, just informed us that he received a request from the White House for a case of his 2007 Late Harvest Semillon, which is bottled in our special glass. Oded’s 2007 Semillon scored 95 Points by the editors of Wine Enthusiast Magazine. As described in the December 15, 2009 Buying Guide, it’s “a gorgeous dessert wine…super sweet in honey, apricot jam, orange blossom, crème brulée and vanilla flavors.” Our congratulations to Oded for such a wonderful wine and this extraordinary opportunity to prove the quality of our bottles! Click here for the Longboard website.

Show Season
Unified was a tremendous success for Global Package. Our booth was on the main concourse this year, and we had lots of visitors coming to view our new line of value-priced European bottles, as well as our popular Elegant Light line. The show drew over 12,000 people, a welcome sign of a reviving industry. We also exhibited at the Fancy Food Show in January and felt a renewed sense of energy there, too. Next, we’ll be at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) show in Las Vegas April 6-8, 2010. Look for us at Booth #819; we’ll have new products there, as well

Fancy Food 2010

Avoiding Low-Cost Pitfalls
Recently, a couple of Oregon wineries told me about getting burned several years ago with glass imported from China. I’ve worked with many of these wineries over the years and have always been impressed with their smarts and their early-adopter spirit. Unfortunately, several ended up on the bleeding edge and not the leading edge of the early movement of outsourcing to China. While Chinese wine glass manufacturers have multiplied over the past several years, quality can still be an issue, unless you work with folks who are expert in wine bottle manufacturing and in doing business in China, which is a tricky combination of what you know and who you know. Global Package takes pride in holding high quality standards at all our manufacturing sites. Of course, our credentials in the industry have been proven over two decades. So, to all my conscientious winery friends out there who want to lower production costs but not compromise quality. . .Global Package has your back. If you’d like to learn more about supplier selection in China, here’s an article from Industry Week offering 10 tips for successful supplier engagement in China:  10 tips for successful supplier engagement in China.

What Color is Your Brand?
“Color … impacts our appetite, sexual behaviour, business life and leisure time,” according Eric Johnson of the Chicago-based Institute for Colour Research. Its research reveals that people make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone. Another study by the University of Loyola, Maryland, finds that color increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. So it’s important to know why and how colors communicate to your target audience before designing your label or logo. For instance, did you know that that while green is universally associated with vegetation, it may also be symbolic of good luck, seasickness, money and greed. In the US, it’s even associated with extraterrestrial beings. In the Muslim world, green symbolizes heaven, whereas a green M&M in the US is associated with sexuality. Colormatters.com is a good resource for marketers wanting to research a color’s associations. You can download ebooks on a variety of  color design books by clicking here. I’ve been using Tucker Creative for my branding needs, and Traversant Brand Communications has been a great resource for me through the years. You might give them a call.

News ‘n Notes
A reminder to visit our newly opened showroom at 2793 Napa Valley Corporate Drive in Napa. You’ll be welcomed by Karen Howard, our new staff member. . .Check out this new wine sales innovation: Smart Carts, or Cocktails made Tableside. We say smart marketing: good packaging recall and good selling by sommeliers . . . According to a Reuters report, China has become the biggest export market for Bordeaux wines outside the EU as the sour economy and a strong euro has put French wines beyond U.S. and British buyers . . . California’s 2009 crush totaled 4,095,297 tons, up 11 percent from the 2008 crush of 3,673,858 tons, only the second time the State’s crush has exceeded 4 million tons . . . Back in November, we reported that Walgreens was rolling out its private wine label over the next 12-18 months. Well, the trend has caught on, with new wine brands cropping up at convenience stores. Nielsen data finds that “private-label wine sales increased by more than 10% in a four-week reporting period late in 2009, compared with the same time a year earlier. These sales are being spurred by C-store brands such as 7-Eleven’s new Yosemite road wines.”

Off to a Great Start

New Showroom

Exciting News! Over the holidays we completed our move into our new office and showroom at 2793 Napa Valley Corporate Drive in Napa. We’ll also be exhibiting in Booth 519 at the 35th Winter Fancy Food Show January 17-19 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco. Then, of course, you can catch us at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium on January 27 and 28. We’ll be in Booth 134 on the Main Floor. So stop by and check out our line of Elegant Light bottles, which are specifically designed to match the look of heavier ‘fancy glass’ packaging, but without the environmental negatives. Our best-selling bottles— Bordeaux Max, Bordeaux Daniel, and the Burgundy Bella—will be on display, and all meet production requirements for capsule application, body width for large labels, and ease of changeover. We look forward to meeting you!

New Year Trends
The San Francisco Examiner’s Adrienne Turner predicts consumers will continue to look for value in the 2010. Citing stats from the Silicon Valley Bank Premium Wine Group, wines selling below $35 will continue to do well, but wines between $50-$125 are in a “dead space,” with only established labels selling. She also thinks that wineries that utilize social media marketing tools will have an advantage over those that don’t, particularly if their brands are suited to the Millennial buyer (ages 18-34), who enjoys “belonging” to wine clubs and who drink at wine bars. Connecting to the wine blogosphere via populists like Dr. Vino, Alder Yarrow, and Gary Vaynerchuk can exponentially enhance a winery’s word-of-mouth buzz, and she believes wineries will continue their utilization of eco-friendly practices, both as a way to distinguish their brand and as a way to reduce their footprint. Finally, she predicts that wine and technology will continue to merge as more wine apps are made available on mobile devices. I’d love to hear from you if you agree or disagree with these predictions. For the article and supporting links, click here: http://bit.ly/4BjqK1

The Influencers
Most of us know that the Millennials are the fastest growing consumer segment. What we may not know is how much more influential Gen Y women (ages 18-34) are compared to their Gen X counterparts (ages 35-49). An interesting post on Millennial Marketing cites a study of both groups and found that Gen Y women consider themselves to be trend leaders and, surprise!, Gen X women agree, saying “They’re more creative in terms of selection in fashion, pop culture, cuisine, etc.” Gen Y women are also twice as likely to use online social networking sites to share their recommendations. This same posting lists ten influential Gen Y women writers, with Leah Hennessey standing out. After getting laid off from a big Hollywood talent agency she started her company and wine blog, Millennier+Wine, which has this posting, “Where Millennials Are Buying Wine: Some Tough Love For The Wine Industry” (http://millennier.wordpress.com). It features results of a study she conducted on Millennial wine buying habits (Bars 1.91%, Grocery Stores 45.71%, Liquor Stores 25.71%, Mini Mart 1.91%, Restaurant 4.76%, Wine Shops 17.14%, Other 3.80%) and an appeal to wineries to “get Millennials out of the grocery store aisles and into wine shops & wineries.” For the article “Millennial Women Disproportionately Influential,” click here: http://bit.ly/6zK8gy

Wine Sales
Wine.com’s most recent survey of customers’ Top 100 favorite wines is an interesting read. This year’s list “reflects current economic trends, with over 75 of the wines coming in under $20 and only two wines above $100,” which supports the continuing trend of “value” in consumer purchasing. Interestingly, though, the price point is up in 2009 from 2008, with an average of $23.50 being paid per bottle, an increase of 15% over last year, which hopefully indicates an increase in consumer confidence. I really like the Wine.com website because it allows folks to select criteria from the Top 100 list and easily distill information to match their tastes. I think winery customers would really like that feature; perhaps something to think about for your next website update. Click here for the survey findings: http://bit.ly/8GdIKW

News ‘n Notes
Glass is the preferred packaging for consumer health and the environment, according to a 2006 survey conducted by Newton Marketing & Research. Consumers also prefer glass because it’s made from all-natural, sustainable raw materials … More Glass Facts: Glass is 100% recyclable with no loss in quality or purity, making it the only true “cradle-to-cradle” packaging material. Glass containers go from recycling bin to store shelf in as little as 30 days, and an estimated 80% of recovered glass containers are made into new glass bottles … According to Global Wine & Spirits.com, weather conditions leading up to the 2009 harvest have again made Pinot Noir the big winner, while other varieties such as Merlot do not seem to have reached their full potential. Click here for global 2009 harvest projections: http://bit.ly/5j86Sc

Once again the media has come to Erica to find out what is happening with glass.   Jeff Quackenbush of the North Bay Business Journal recently interviewed Erica and included her comments in the March 8, 2010 issue of the North Bay Business Journal:

Vintners now have more options for lighter-weight glass to save money on purchasing and bottling and exotic bottle shapes for attention-grabbing packaging.

Some producers of higher end wines are starting to invest again in innovative packaging for attention-catching flagship or secondary labels after a steep slowdown in sales for many expensive brands last year, according to Erica Harrop of Global Package in Napa.

“There’s been a real lull, with many, many wineries that have reduced bottling in the last eight months,” Ms. Harrop said. “Now, there seems to be a rebirth, with people wanting to look at products that are unique and not the lowest common denominator.”

A global shortage of wine bottles in 2007 has turned into a surplus as wineries cut production, so small-scale makers of novel bottles in Europe are looking to attract customers by offering more novel, or “fantasy,” bottle shapes as standard molds, according to Ms. Harrop.

Exotic bottles still can be expensive, she noted. A case of 12 empty bottles from a small-production plant might cost $20 to $30.

However, more lower-cost shapes are coming from Asian and North American plants. As global supply of bottles has increased in the past few years, buyers of glass have become more selective for the quality of the glass itself, according to packaging designers and suppliers.

November 2009 Newsletter

• Convenient Wine
• The Post-Recession Consumer
• Americans Heart Wine
• Your Brain on Wine
• News ‘n Notes

C-Store Strategy
A February 2009 piece in Wine & Spirits Daily (http://bit.ly/2imp4r) reported that convenience stores (c-stores) are eyeing wine sales to boost profits, with domestic white wine showing the most impressive growth. Now, positioning itself as a c-store as well as a drugstore, Walgreens recently announced it will start selling wine in most of its 7,000 stores nationwide. According to an October 2009 article in Convenience Store News, in an effort to make the shopping experience more ‘convenient’ for shoppers, Walgreens is remodeling 400 of stores and plans to focus more on private-label goods and groceries in certain neighborhoods. The national rollout is slated to occur over the next 12 to 18 months. Click here for the article.

Price Equals Pleasure
I loved this study by researches at the California Institute of Technology and Stanford’s business school, which proved that the pleasure of a wine is linked directly to its price. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI), the researchers found that there’s more activity in the pleasure center of the brain when subjects in the study drank wine they thought cost $90 a bottle than when they drank the same wine priced at $10 a bottle. In other words, people’s perception of a wine is influenced more by price than by its intrinsic quality. So before you lower the price of that wine in storage, you might want to think again. The study suggests that “manipulating nonintrinsic attributes of goods” can affect experienced pleasantness. And, yes, that’s what packaging is all about. For the synopsis of the study, click here.

Millennial Packaging
While U.S. consumers may be feeling the pinch in their pocketbooks, they still like their wine. According to the Beverage Information Group’s (BIG) recently released 2009 Handbook, wine consumption continues to trend upward, with an increase of 0.9 percent in 2008. Although more frugal in their wine selection, consumers are choosing domestics over foreign brands, primarily due to the weak dollar. Of course, the continuing media coverage of the health benefits of wine don’t hurt. Also of interest, the report suggests that the 70 million Millennials (age 21 to 30) in the U.S. are a respectable contributing factor to wine’s growth. Targeting this market segment with packaging that isn’t granddad’s packaging would be smart, since these folks like to experiment and are drawn to unique packaging. Global Packaging has a broad array of decorative options, including silk-screening like we do for our spirits clients. Don’t forget, too, that our Elegant Light line of light- weight bottles are distinctive in their own right. Call us if you’d like to see samples. Click here for the Reuter’s summary of the BIG’s findings.

Changed Behavior
The most recent Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index finds that many consumers around the world will return to their free-spending patterns, whereas many Americans say they will “find it hard to shake recessionary spending habits.” Interestingly, the Chinese (and Russians) are most confident the recession is ending and are eager to start spending again, especially luxury goods. [Sidenote: A friend who hosts Chinese students in San Francisco said her student just purchased a brand new Bentley and Land Rover to ship to his family back in China.] China and Russia are expected to be the fastest growing markets for still light grape wine in absolute volume terms over the next five years, according to the Euromonitor International 2008 industry review (http://bit.ly/GLzeE), so the future looks bright for wine brands with those distribution channels. On the home front, more than 40 percent of Americans say they expect “to increase their spending on travel and holidays, dining out and out-of-home entertainment in the coming months,” which should be welcome news for all of us. http://bit.ly/2KF9gI

News ‘n Notes
Jeff Quackenbush in last month’s North Bay Business Journal notes the reverse trend toward lighter-weight wine bottles and more conservative designs in these harsh economic times, with “packaging to be designed to look more serious, sophisticated and of higher value.” What a perfect pitch for Global Packaging! http://bit.ly/3kFUv2 … We’re all for the alliance between Crushpad, Twitter, and Room to Read; they’re calling it social winemaking, and according to Crushpad’s prez Michael Brill, “it’ll expose winemaking to many thousands of people (not just 5 or 10) who could not ordinarily afford it or be involved in it.” … Harvest has wound down and although we are nervous about the grapes that didn’t come in this year (a reflection of our economic times) there is hope that quality wines prevail. The rains didn’t totally dampen our character and I expect that we have seen the worst of times in our rear view mirrors. Wineries have made necessary adjustments to cut out unnecessary costs through 2009 and smart suppliers were already laying new ground for products to fit their customers’ needs. What has your supplier done for you lately? Find out what new product lines we have at Global Package and know you will be taken care of.

October 2009 Newsletter

Friends, we are sending this newsletter to you because we know you are interested in news, trends, and best practices in packaging for the wine and spirits industry. Please feel free to pass it along to colleagues.

Enjoy!
-Erica

• Classy Glass
• Consumer Appeal
• On the Cheap
• No Time Like the Present
• News ‘n Notes

High-end, Low-cost
Around this time last year Michael Othites, senior vice president of operations for Constellation Wines U.S., was extolling the virtues of heavy glass, saying that “consumers of expensive, high-end wines tend to prefer heavier bottles, which convey a sense of quality.” Click here for the article. What a difference a year makes. While top-of-the-line wines will likely still use heavier glass now and in the foreseeable future, environmental and cost factors have led to unprecedented growth in lighter weight bottles. To address demand, we at Global Package recently created our own proprietary line of bottles — Elegant Light — which combines the cost-efficiencies and ‘green’ considerations of lighter glass with the distinctive shapes and colors of ultra-premium Burgundy and Bordeaux styles. They’re in stock now and readily available. If you’d like to see samples, just send us an email info@globalpackage.net or give us a call at 707-224-5670.

Bottle Basics
ShelfImpact.com cited a recent survey conducted by Newton Marketing Research in conjunction with the University of Oklahoma that found that “wine drinkers of all ages and regions of the U.S. believe glass bottles are the healthiest way to package wine (98.1%) and keep the taste of wine pure (79.8%)… Consumers believe glass is the most appealing packaging material for wine in appearance (97.8%), does the best job of keeping the product fresh (94.1%) and keeping the original flavor of the product (95.3%). They also believe glass is the best material for packaging organic wine (95.4%). . . Of nearly 75% of American wine drinkers expressing an opinion, (72.3%) believe glass is the best packaging material for recycling, compared with bag-in-box containers (4.8%).” Pretty impressive testimonial for glass. Click here for the study: http://bit.ly/sDc7S

Cheap Drunks
I found this interesting study on a recent post on “Well,” the blog by New York Times’ Tara Parker-Pope. She cites a new study by researchers from the University of Florida and San Diego State University that found that the higher the cost of a drink, the “less intoxicated bar patrons (mostly college students) were upon leaving the establishment.” Evidently, there’s a strong correlation between the cost of a drink and amount consumed: “For every $1.40 hike in drink price, the bar goer was 30 percent less likely to leave the bar legally drunk.” Unsurprisingly, they also found that college students are more sensitive to price reductions than older drinkers, who typically have more disposable income. Yet another argument for higher-end quality wines. I always believe drink well and drink less now it seems we will be safer, too! Click here for the full story: http://bit.ly/4AXb7I

Planning Ahead
Studies have shown that between 70 to 80 percent of wine packaging costs are determined during the design stage. Six Cost Saving tips your packaging suppliers don’t want you to know.” South African Wine Journal. Given today’s fluctuations in supply and demand, it’s imperative to decide as early as possible on your wine’s packaging. Know what retail price point you want to hit and then look for packaging that suits that range. When deciding on the right bottle, many factors need to be considered: price-value equation, aesthetic appeal, style of wine, fill level, bottle diameter (in terms of equipment compatibility), capsule size, bottling line restrictions, closure requirements, among many others. The glass industry is evolving and sectoring itself for “best selection” solutions. European glass, although affected greatly by the exchange rate, still offers the most specialized solutions. However, the new era of mid-sized off- shore factories with creative design agents are making huge inroads. If you’re unsure how your particular circumstances affect bottle choice, give me a call. I’ll be happy to help. If you’d like a quick tutorial on bottle selection, go to this piece I wrote for Bin to Bottle. Click on Newsletters, 30 June 2009, Bin to Bottle Newsletter, Issue 3: June ‘09 to download the PDF. For more good information on bottle selection, here’s another article: “Six Cost Saving tips your packaging suppliers don’t want you to know” — by Mike Carter in October 31, 2006 Wine, South Africa’s wine journal. Click here: http://bit.ly/1aPXT9

News ‘n Notes
Glass factories are difficult to run in the best of times and that is proved by the news of Cameron Family Glass Packaging’s much anticipated manufacturing plant in Washington being closed down due to a furnace fire and a string of resulting legal claims. (http://bit.ly/44crpH) …Here’s a pretty good resource for those who are new to bottle selection. It provides pictures and descriptions of traditional and non-traditional bottles: (http://bit.ly/1iRPjM) …Wines & Vines lists these wine bloggers as trade favorites: E. Asimov, J. Robinson, S. Tanzer, E. Orange, T. Colman, G. Vaynerchuk, and A. Yarrow. Wine trade members also ranked Facebook and LinkedIn as significantly more important for communication than Twitter, MySpace and YouTube… (http://bit.ly/Cq1Mb) …Wine Bottle Recycling LLC in Stockton, CA, has picked up where other attempts failed in recycling wine bottles. According to founder Bruce Stephens, the 92,000-square-foot facility will use facial recognition software to sort the bottles and automated de-labeling system. Stay tuned (http://bit.ly/zBTTX).

Exhibiting at WSWA in April, 2009, Orlando, Florida.

Global Package LLC is exhibiting at Unified Wine & Grape Symposium on January 28 & 29. Visit us at stand 2302 (upstairs) to see a new generation of our products, materials and design.

Exhibiting at Fancy Food Show, Booth 303, January 18-20 2009 in San Francisco.