Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/112023
PACKAGING Quality control is a vital component of glass manufacturing, as seen here at an M.A. Silva plant in Asia. Buying bottles from a reputable source saves money in the long run. shipping brings an ���optimization of transportation. Shipping containers of bottles by sea between France and San Francisco is better than shipping the same containers by ground from New York to Los Angeles,��� he claimed. Has lightweighting leveled off? As winemakers began marketing their sustainability and environmentalism in the past decade, lighter weight wine bottles lost their low-end connotations. Bottle producers began to offer more���and more attractive��� bottles resembling heavyweight luxury packaging, but without the excess poundage that increased incoming and outgoing case-shipping costs and inflated greenhouse emissions. Lighter weight bottles are here to stay, but their use may have leveled out. Virtually every manufacturer now offers Get the best out of your grapes. The Europress exclusively by Euro-Machines attractive, lightweight bottle options, but the trend, most agreed, has plateaued. Verallia introduced its trademarked ECO Series in 2009. Now called Ecove, Laughlin said, ���These bottles average 15% less weight than bottles of their comparable standard designs, yet still have the same shelf appeal. They also have the same wall thicknesses as the original bottles, maintaining the same quality performance standards, and therefore becoming our new standard bottles.��� ���In 2010, more than half of U.S. wineries moved to lighter weight bottles,��� Gallagher reported. ���O-I���s Lean+Green wine bottle product line caters to this consumer preference. At the moment, the most popular-priced wines are in bottles ranging from 14 to 16.5 ounces (empty).��� While the move toward lightweighting may have been led by wineries, consumers have accepted these products without question. After all, an empty case of 1-pound bottles is so much easier to tote to the recycling bin. ���There was a trend to use lightweight bottles for various reasons, including carbon footprint and cost savings. That has stabilized as most wineries have opted (Continued on page 43.) Euro-Machines offers high-quality equipment based on your vision to bring out the best of every vine, with our proven history in the careful handling of grapes and together our love of good wine. Europress 6-320 hl Europress-Cool with cooling jacket Euroselect berry selector Destemmer crushers Sorting equipment Conveyor belts Vibrating tables Custom-made tanks Pumps Braud grape harvesters and much more Euro-Machines, Inc. West: Fairfield, CA 94534 - Phone 707-864-5800 East: Culpeper, VA 22701 - Phone 540-825-5700 info@euromachinesusa.com www.euromachinesusa.com A subsidiary of Scharfenberger Company Germany Win es & Vin es M A RC H 20 13 41