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New Zealand wine lightens up

Blog Posts Nelson New Zealand Organic wine

Back in May, I complained that while the New Zealand wine industry prided itself on its green credentials, it had thus far failed miserably on environmentally friendly packaging (making me somewhat unpopular with various members of the NZ trade!)

While the rest of the wine world has turned to lightweight bottles, plastic (a.k.a PET) bottles, and tetrapaks, Kiwis had been stuck in the twentieth with heavy bottles. The lightest bottle available in New Zealand was 450g yet the Aussies were already down at 330g, reducing energy use by 20% and water by 12%.

At the time, Mike Needham, national sales manager for glass bottle manufacturer O-I, admitted it was expensive technology to install, and New Zealand was a relatively small producer of wine. “I don’t think people will go down to 350g or 300g. We have found very few people that are interested. The industry has not been as demanding here as in Australia,” he said.

Yet there was interest from producers. And this week, Nelson organic producer Richmond Plains has bottled its first wine in a 325 gram bottle.

Lars Jensen, owner of Richmond Plains, says,  “It has been a big challenge to find suitable lightweight bottles in New Zealand.  The lightest bottles we have been able to use previously were 40% heavier.  So these really do make a big difference to the environment and across our business.”

The bottles are 20 mm shorter which means it is possible to stack more cases onto a pallet and fit more into a container.  Taking fewer resources to produce and transport, reducing fossil fuels consumption significantly.  They are also much lighter for trade and customers to handle with a case weighing 1.5 kg less at just 13kg.

Jensen adds, “Maximising the use of our resources and minimising our impact on the environment is a global issue so we’re very excited to be leading the way by using such lightweight bottles.”

I hope that others will follow their lead.

Unfortunately, consumers often feel they are getting better value for money and a better wine if it is packaged in a heavy bottle.

However, a WRAP study found bottle weight differences of up to 40% (for an empty container) and 20% (for a full container) were not noticed among a significant number of those surveyed, so perhaps if the proportions of the bottle mimic those of a heavier equivalent there will be little impact in perceived values.

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