Shipping out in style

Wines & Vines, Sept, 2004 by Jane Firstenfeld

It seems like, not all that long ago, if you wanted to ship your casegoods across the street or across the planet, you packed up the bottles in a corrugated cardboard box, crossed your fingers and sent them on their merry way. Like every other aspect of the wine business, wine shipping materials have also evolved. Today's options include a variety of materials to meet the basic need of protection, and, increasingly, the ability to add your brand's identity to every layer of the package.

When we got our advance copy of the hot-off-the-press Wines & Vines 2004 Annual Directory/Buyer's Guide, we contacted suppliers of shipping materials to learn exactly what's available now to carry your wines safely, and in high style, to their destinations.

California Glass Company & Pacific Coast Container, based in Oakland, Calif., has been distributing corrugated products for half a century. Multi-faceted California Glass is 70 years old this year, with a customer base mainly in the Western United States. "In 1976, California Glass Company innovated the Ship & Store[TM] concept that has now become the standard for wine shipping industry-wide," according the Terry Sanzo, business manager. The familiar Ship & Store incorporates a "universal" inner foam piece to fit all sizes of domestic or imported wine containers. An interlock system allows the foam to convert for one- to 12-bottle shipping cartons, so foam stock inventories can be reduced. Prices for Ship & Store products start at approximately 62 cents each, or $12.40 per case of 20 for individual bottle shippers with outer carton.

"Materials for corrugated products do vary, depending on geographical location, due to different climate areas," Sanzo says. "The price-point of wines sometimes dictates the customer's request for packaging. Material can vary for different destinations and product lines, based on climate and DOT (Department of Transportation) requirements. Exported products are subject to international standards and transportation requirements," he notes, adding, "The general trend is leaning more toward the necessity of environmentally friendly products that can be recycled by the end user if need be."

Contact: California Glass Company & Pacific Coast Container, 155 98th Ave., Oakland, CA 94603. Phone: (510) 635-7700, e-mail: tsanzo@calglassco.com, Web site: calglasspcc.com.

Etched Images, Napa, is perhaps best known for its bottle decoration work, described in our May issue. But, owner Stu McFarland says, the company also distributes wine shippers to customers across the country, primarily on the West Coast.

"Etched Images provides cardboard and foam shippers for all sizes of wine bottles. We also provide bottle/wine glass wooden boxes," McFarland says. The company can laser engrave artwork, logo or message onto the lid, or apply full-color, die cut vinyl labels. Etched Images' edge, he adds, is "providing one-stop shopping." After bottles are etched and hand painted, the company can provide order fulfillment including tissue-wrapping, labeling, product packaging and drop shipping to multiple addresses, with "very competitive pricing," for the high-end product which Etched Images typically handles.

Contact: Etched Images, 1758 Industrial Way, #101, Napa, CA 94558. Phone: (707) 252-5450, e-mail: info@etchedimages.com, Web site: etchedimages.com.

Frontier Packaging, Inc. is a Seattle-based manufacturer of corrugated and chipboard interior box partitions, working with the Pacific Northwest wine industry since 1985. "We are also a supplier of value added, high graphics packaging, from one- and two-bottle bags to carry-out boxes to high graphics case shippers," says Paul Leland, printed packaging manager.

Chipboard, made by gluing together wood particles with adhesive under heat and pressure, is perhaps most familiar as the material in inexpensive laminated or veneered flat-pack furniture. According to its Web site, Frontier also provides molded fiber clamshell wine shippers and molded fiber trays, as alternatives to Styrofoam.

As product branding becomes ever more vital to the wine industry, marketers have begun to look at every surface of the package as a potential advertisement. "Dramatically improved printing processes have enabled us to provide high graphics packaging," Leland notes. "Previously, such graphics were available in lithographic processes only." And digital printing has made such printing practical even for smaller runs. "We find that foreign markets are particularly drawn to high graphics packaging," Leland observes.

Contact: Frontier Packaging, Inc., 1201 Andover Park E., Seattle, WA 98188. Phone: (206) 575-7772, e-mail paull@frontierpackaging.com, Web site: frontierpackaging.com.

Henry Molded Products, Inc., Lebanon, Pa., has been supplying molded pulp packaging to customers in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for more than a decade. Owner Douglass Henry referred me to his Web site, henry-molded.com, for some background on the company and its products.

Pulp molding originated in China several thousand years ago, and came into commercial application in the 19th century. Henry Molded manufactures packaging and containers using 100% pre- and post-consumer, recycled newsprint, craft paper and other waste papers. Natural waxes and binders are added to ensure the integrity of the finished products, which must be able to withstand fluid leakage for weeks. The resultant "mash" is formed in custom molds, and when dry enough to support its own weight, transferred to a drying oven.