St. Louis, Mo., October 2, 2013 – Oregon’s largest winery and one of North America’s largest supplier of wine bottles developed an environmental program that exemplifies the wine industry’s commitment to ecological stewardship.
King Estate Winery elected to change to a more sustainable glass bottle than it had been using for the prior decade. With TricorBraun WinePak’s guidance, the winery selected the Eco Series bottles manufactured by Verallia North America.
“This is a winery that thinks ‘outside the bottle’ and the Eco Series selection was just the starting point for a sweeping sustainability program,” Gillian Brennan, TricorBraun WinePak’s representative said.
“King Estate is all about sustainability, supporting the environment and recycling,” said Josh Rutherford, the winery’s purchasing manager.
Together, Ms. Brennan and Mr. Rutherford began revamping the way the 1,000- acre winery thought about and addressed its commitment to sustainability.
Ms. Brennan sourced corrugated cartons from a local company which also enabled the winery to incorporate an innovative QR code and use a local printer.
They also chose a sesame tape to seal the new cartons. In addition to providing a seamless closure and an easy-opening box, the new tape offered protection for the product and guaranteed a clean display in its retail setting.
Ms Brennan was able to reduce delivery errors by selecting a local, reliable trucking company.
An internal recycling program was launched by returning an idle baler to use. The winery’s warehouse team learned the best way to sort and bale molded plastic and plastic film. It also began mixing office paper and corrugated to form 1,250-pound bales. Rather than use its own employees to transport unbundled waste, King Estate now calls the recycler for a no-charge pickup when it has approximately 20 bales of recyclable material. During its busy season, the winery may assemble 20 bales once a month, and at that rate, it receives a monthly check for approximately $1,200.
“The search for an eco-bottle turned into a sustainable and rewarding partnership,” Ms. Brennan said. TricorBraun WinePak now handles all King Estate’s wine packaging needs. As the winery expands into the personal care category, it has begun working with other TricorBraun divisions to source packaging for the hand lotions and soaps made from lavender now grown on the King Estate.
About TricorBraun
TricorBraun WinePak has offices in Northern and Southern California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia. It has been serving the wine industry since 1982.
The company’s facilities include a $2 million repacking system that automatically transfers wine bottles from eight-foot high stacks of pallets to individual wineries’ custom, 12-bottle cartons.
It also offers an online store, WinePak Direct (www.WinePakDirect.com) that serves small wineries and large wineries with exclusive, limited case bottlings.
TricorBraun (www.TricorBraun.com) is one of North America’s largest providers of bottles, jars, and other rigid packaging components.
