PACKAGING
Bottle Makers��� Outlook Is Rosy
Glass still dominates wine packaging; lightweighting grows up
By Jane Firstenfeld
A
lternative wine packaging has
made nary a crack in glass
bottles��� domination of the
wine industry. Bag-in-box,
PET, pouches and aluminum options appear to have
swallowed some of the extra volume of
increased wine production and consumption worldwide, but glassmakers
maintain their traditional grasp on most
wines at every price point.
That���s the take-away message we
heard from top executives of eight leading North American bottle suppliers at
the end of 2012. Their success reflects
both the confidence of winemakers,
marketers and the consuming public as
well as supplier response to environmental concerns and ongoing innovations in design.
At O-I glass factories around the world, smoldering gobs of molten glass (left) are transformed into ultra-cool wine bottles. For the prototype ���Vortex��� bottles (right), patterns are molded on the interior of the bottle, providing a smooth finish for labels above built-in, textured designs.
38 W in es & V i ne s M AR C H 20 13
