Newsletter - May 2012 May 03, 2012
To stay up-to-date with packaging news, please make sure globalpackage@mail.vresp.com is white-listed with your ISP. New Bottles from Global Package We’re thrilled to introduce two new lines of spirits bottles and a gorgeous new Burgundy bottle to the Global Package collection.
- The new burgundy bottle—the Claire—is the most recent addition to our Elegant Light line of bottles. It boasts more reserved styling than other bottles in its category, with an elegant swan’s neck, and provides a more substantial label area compared to bottles in its category. And while it conforms to the standards of the superior, lighter-weight bottles in the Elegant Light line—including a 1.5” punt and 31.5mm capsule top—it is a definitive line extension which differs from the sturdier-formed Bella and Carré bottles yet in the same line with its taller and broader body. It’s available in antique green in any quantity and can be also ordered along with brand-printed boxes.
- A new line of competitively priced, mid-weight spirits bottles for the discriminating, high-end market is now available on the shop floor. These bottles come in a range of styles, from antiquity to modern, in high-grade clear glass. The Teo and Millennio have a fatter decanter-style neck, whereas the antique Apotheker has standard dimensions for bottling ease.
- We have also added a variety of premier European spirits bottles that have the capability of being elaborately decorated. Ask for the Pure Glass collection from Estal. The photo of the Senso bottle is an excellent example of the extraordinary silk-screen detail that’s possible with these unique bottles.
Of course, we still have an extensive local inventory of stock bottles, as well as metallic label and design services from internationally acclaimed Tucker Creative.
Intellectual Assets
Industry veteran Mike Meneghilli recently joined Global Package as Sales Representative. Mike comes to us with over 35 years of wine industry experience, beginning in 1977 in the cellars and aging winemaking departments of the legendary Robert Mondavi Winery. While at Mondavi, he also honed his technical technical knowledge of the relationship between bottles, corks, capsules, and labels all integrate to make a brand succeed in the marketplace. He later moved into sales and marketing to help educate distributors, sales teams, and consumers on all facets of the winemaking process. We are extremely happy to have his marketing expertise and customer service skills on our team.
- Those of you who have visited our Napa showroom may have already met Kathy Feder, our Office Manager and Assistant to the President. Kathy has been in the industry for over 15 years in the areas of customer account management, order fulfillment, sales and margin improvement, bookkeeping and cost-reduction strategies, and customer satisfaction enhancement. Prior to joining us, Kathy was Senior Account Manager at Bergin Glass Impressions and Operations Manager at Etched Images, two wine bottle-decorating companies specialized in custom screen printing and etching. Kathy’s background in high-quality, customized packaging make her an ideal fit for Global Package, and we’re very happy to have her with us.
Industry Boost
Wines sales in the US rose to a record level in 2011, solidifying our position as the world’s largest wine market. Global California wined sales also increased by an impressive 5.6%, with Napa vintages playing a significant role in that increase. Interestingly, the fastest growing wine varieties were sweet red wines, with Muscat/Moscato growing by 73% in volume and others increasing around 200%. Malbec and blended reds also grew at double-digit levels. Fine wine sales bettered projections, as well. At the same time exports of US wine soared by 22% last year to reach a record US$1.39bn, according to the California-based Wine Institute, which “puts the US on-track to meet the Wine Insitute's target of $2bn in export sales by 2020.” According to Silicon Valley Bank’s annual State of the Wine Industry report, sales grew 12.2 percent in 2011 for US makers of wine primarily retailing for more than $20 a bottle, up from 10.8 percent in 2010. After just returning from a trip to Kentucky’s wine region, I’m sure that burgeoning region is contributing to those record numbers. In just five years the number of Kentucky wineries has increased from 15 to 50, moving approximately 100,000 cases per year. For more, click here: http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/51321/california-wine-shipments-in-2011-rise-5-6-percent-to-new-record/ and http://www.kentuckywine.com/about/history/.
The Skinny on Wine Apps
With the rise of apps for just about everything, it was just a matter of time for developers to come up with iPhone and iPad apps for the serious oenophile, as well as the easily intimated wine consumer. Here’s a review by MacWorld’s Ben Boychuk that discusses four apps—Drync Wine Pro, Wine Snob, The Wine Enthusiast Guide, and Wine Cellar Pro by Velvet Vine—that are designed for both serious connoisseur and the beginning drinker. For example, The Wine Enthusiast Guide will let you search for wines that are rated 89 or higher for $15 or less. The Wine Snob “lets you track and rate the wines you drink, while letting you search for wines you might like, providing basic definitions, and offering helpful suggestions such as general food and wine pairings.” Drync Wine “lets you keep track of the wines you’ve drunk, the wines you own, and the wines you’d like to add to your cellar.” The Velvet Vine Wine Companion is a “full-featured experience …with a rich database of user-generated reviews and recommendations …much like a social-networking app for winos.” For the complete reviews, click here: http://www.macworld.com/appguide/article.html?article=139106
Wines By The Glass
We thought this recent survey by Napa Technology provided some great advice for restaurateurs, wine bar owners, and others in the hospitality industry to meet the growing demand for more interesting by-the-glass wine selections while maintaining margins. According to a panel of industry experts, a preservation system is a top priority for wine-by-the-glass programs to “protect the wine from oxidation either by sparging with an inert gas or by flash-vacuum.” Many of the panelists use the WineStation system, which provides “portion control and eliminates product spoilage while increasing profits through advanced 60 day preservation.” Other suggestions include: Know the Fill Line (Champagne pours are different than still wine pours); Monitor Temperatures; Emphasize Staff Education; Menu Within A Menu (offer unique wine prix-fixe or flights); and Wine Pairing Suggestions. For the full report, click here: http://www.napatechnology.com/press/napatech_winebytheglasstips.html
News 'n Notes
Some winemakers who are looking for on-shelf differentiation are experimenting with a trend that artisan beer brewers started: aluminum packaging. The newest entry in the market is the Flasq screw-cap aluminum bottle that holds two generous glasses of Merlot, Chardonnay, and Cuvee Blanc per bottle. (http://www.specialtyfood.com/news-trends/featured-articles/food-trends/food-trends-march-2012/). Diageo recently published its first Sustainable Packaging Guidelines, based on three principles: optimize packaging material to reduce its environmental footprint where possible; design with the cradle-to-cradle life cycle in mind; and use leading-edge technologies to minimize packaging and optimize recycled materials (http://www.packworld.com/sustainability/strategy/diageo-publishes-sustainable-packaging-guidelines). Imports of bottled wine to China hit a record US$1.27bn in 2011, up 94% year-on-year, while the value of bulk wine into China fell by 20% in the same period, indicating that the imported wine market is evolving from low-end to high-end, according to Lin Feng, VP of H&J Consulting (http://www.just-drinks.com/news/fy-imported-wine-sales-hit-record-high_id106708.aspx). Millennials are drinking wine at nearly every imaginable occasion, including when showering, reading a book to relax, and even eating Cheerios in the morning. This interesting study by the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State can be found here: http://www.winebusiness.com/news/?go=getArticle&dataid=90023.