Dark ages
OPINION: Before we all let The Green Party have at it with their 'bold' emissions reduction plan, the Hound thought it wise to run the numbers through the old Casio.
The Alternative Wine Packaging webinar was hosted by Tim Nowell-Usticke from WineWorks, which will soon install a pilot bag-in-box plant at its Marlborough bottling plant, and Dr Edwin Massey, New Zealand Winegrowers General Manager Sustainability, who sees alternative packaging as part of the industry-wide goal of being net zero by 2050. “Through data collected through Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand, wine packaging makes up at least 44% of the total footprint of a bottle of wine,” Edwin says.
The webinar brought together experts and innovators behind new wine packaging, starting with Chris Archer from Joiy Wines, which has exclusively used cans since launching with a Riesling in 2017. It now has Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and Central Otago Pinot Noir in cans as well as Mimosa and Sangria. “At the end of the day it’s the magic that’s inside the packaging that the consumer is buying,” Chris says, noting there’s no loss in quality in moving to the canned format. “Our wines age exactly the same as a screw cap glass bottle… Our sulphur losses are the same. From a quality perspective, I am 100% behind using cans.”
One of the main challenges in using cans is the large minimum run quantities for can manufacturers, with requirements of up to 150,000 units in New Zealand, Chris says. However, there are also big benefits, including weight reduction. “One tonne of aluminium can make enough cans for about 20,000 litres of wine, compared to one tonne of glass at only 1,825 litres.” They have also seen a 40% reduction in fuel costs for transport.
The environmental benefits of the packaging options presented in the webinar, in particular the decrease in carbon emissions, was a common theme among the presenters.
The webinar also included producers of innovative wine packaging not yet used in New Zealand. Santiago Navarro, chief executive and co-founder of Packamama, describes his company’s flat-pack wine bottles as “better wine bottles”. They are made from recycled PET and are significantly lighter than glass at only 63 grams per 750ml, with “only half the emissions compared to glass”. Santiago says the unique shape means the bottles can be flat and crossed-packed, allowing about twice the amount per pallet compared to glass bottles. “Innovation is key… the New Zealand industry needs more choice,” he says.
Another low-carbon format getting a lot of attention globally is the Frugal bottle from United Kingdom-based Frugalpac. Commercial Manager Ciaran Dickson says the bottle, which is made from paper outer and food-grade plastic inner, has a carbon footprint six times lower than glass bottle. He sees two advantages of the Frugal bottle over other packaging: “Consumer acceptance, as it is a 750ml Bordeaux shape, and also for 360-degree branding, which really appeals to the younger consumer.”
Matt Dicey also discussed the importance of market acceptance when sharing Dicey’s journey to get their Central Otago wines into bag-in-box format. Matt says they have seen more acceptance in restaurants and on-trade due to the lack of wastage, but the task has been harder in some more traditional wine stores. “ There are always going to be those that do and those that don’t.”
Getting their wine in a bag-in-box wasn’t easy. “There have been lots of learnings and people helping with information the whole way through,” Matt says. He shared their journey, including importing their own semi-automatic bagging machine and sourcing recycle-ready mono material bag boxes with a lower oxygen transport rate.
Like Chris, Matt says one of the biggest challenges was minimum run sizes. “An example is the bags – we had to buy 10,000 units. We have subsequently sold on about 3,500 bags to other producers keen to start their own journey. As more producers put high-quality wine in bag-in-box the better the market acceptance will be, he adds. “The more people beating that drum the better.”
Neil Pollett from Green Bottle is currently exploring a re-use scheme with the Visy 415g wine bottle, “the most commonly used wine bottle in New Zealand”. The company has tested the bottle extensively with partners in Germany, Neil says. “We are confident that bottle can be used immediately for re-use.” Green Bottle has done a lot of work modelling the carbon emission of refillable glass, showing the average single-use wine bottle in New Zealand produces 370g of carbon in production, while refillable glass produces only 22g. “In a nutshell, one recycled glass bottle is roughly equal to the carbon emissions of 20 reused bottles,” Neil says. They’re not changing wine packaging, just the way it’s dealt with post consumption, “by washing not melting it”, he adds, calling it an “evolution not revolution”
A recent survey conducted with Auckland Council saw more than 90% of participants say they would like to start reusing instead of recycling all their empty bottles with wine bottles being the most popular option for a re-use glass trial. “That was a pretty resounding ‘yes’ from the consumers.” He hopes wine companies will consider the Porto Protocol global reuse campaign, which asks wineries to move to labels that can wash off, so they are “reuse ready”, with the added bonus of being compostable. “Without that small label change we can’t begin to wash off the current overly sticky labels.”
Tim concluded the webinar by highlighting the need for the industry to make educated decisions. “WineWorks will invest in any technology that’s got ongoing volumes.”
Nadine Worley is a winemaker, a lecturer at NMIT, and the co-founder of Fugitive Wines. To see the Alternative Packaging FAQs go to nzwine.com/members/sustainability/guides/climate-change
