Australian producers continue wine package experimentation

Australian wine producers are developing ever more creative wine packaging in the search for sales.

This week alone has seen the launch of two new wine containers: the Shuttle, from Hardy’s and the Cheer Pack, from Palandri in Western Australia.

Palandri believe their plastic/aluminium foil pack—of a sort commonly used for fruit juice and yoghurt drinks—could earn them an extra AUS$32m (£12m) in export earnings.

‘We’re getting a lot of requests for eco-friendly packaging that are either totally recyclable or which have a small footprint,’ said managing director Gordon Grant.

The 750ml ‘Cheer Pack’ was initially developed for Canada’s Ontario Liquor Control Board, to reduce landfill. When empty, the flattened pack covers the same area as a piece of paper. Another Australian company targeting Canada is Cheviot Bridge, which released a TetraPak range in October.

The target of Hardy’s ‘Shuttle’, a 187ml acrylic wine bottle that’s sealed by a twist-top wine glass, is events where glass is banned. A spokeswoman for the company said the Shuttle ‘has the potential to redefine how people drink their wines the world over’.

The past three years has seen a worldwide explosion of innovation in wine packaging including French firm Boisset’s tetrapak, the American Sofia Mini can of sparkling wine, Australia’s Barokes cans, and New Zealand’s ‘pettle’- a PET bottle developed for use on airlines. Airlines are particularly interested in removing glass from the air, both for security reasons and reduced weight.

Written by Felicity Carter