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Constar is supplying PET preforms with MonOxbar Plus™ manufactured at its facility in the United Kingdom to Manypack, which is blow-molding bottles in France for three Boisset Family Estates wines: Louis Bernard’s 750ml burgundy-style PET bottles for AOC (appellation origine controlleé) Bonus Passus Côtes du Rhône and 750ml claret-style PET bottles with a custom braded shape for Yellow Jersey® Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc fine wines.
The three wines became available in the United States in August 2008, marking the first time for fine French wine availability in high-barrier 750ml PET bottles. Bonus Passus Côtes du Rhône is the first French wine with the prestigious AOC designation to be sold in the United States in PET bottles.
The decision to convert from glass to high-barrier PET for the U.S. market is part of Boisset Family Estates President Jean-Charles Boisset’s commitment to innovation via eco-friendly packaging that reduces wine’s total impact on the environment. It also reflects the family’s commitment to sustainability in all key areas of wine production, including farming techniques that are sustainable, organic and biodynamic; winery and company practices that focus on the conservation of energy and water, the use of recycled paper, cardboard and shippers, and organic inks; and the use of alternative packaging such as PET.
PET bottles with Constar’s MonOxbar Plus oxygen scavenger technology are recyclable with the 1-PETE code and have a favorable carbon footprint. It can be shown using Life Cycle Analysis that the production of 750ml bottles for wine generates approximately 50 percent fewer greenhouse gases than the production of 750ml bottles for wine in virgin glass. Constar’s approach to manufacturing also helps to reduce transportation as the PET preforms are made at its plant in Sherburn, UK, and then shipped to Manypack for blow molding into bottles in France, where they are then filled at the Louis Bernard Winery. This ability to produce the bottles in close proximity to where the wine is made and filled reduces environmental impact and cost of transportation.
Boisset says Constar was key in supplying a truly sustainable solution using PET that also protects the subtle nuances of exceptional French wine. “We have an intimacy with our wines that is unique to centuries-old family vineyards. Each is lovingly cared for from grapes-to-glass, ensuring a quality we are proud to call our own. In Constar’s MonOxbar Plus oxygen scavenger technology, we have found a packaging solution that adds an additional dimension for PET technology that was an essential evolution to complement the heritage of our wines, the palates of our customers and our commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly business practices.”
He adds, “AOC wines such as our Bonus Passus Côtes du Rhône are high quality French wines. We are very comfortable entrusting our fine wines to Constar’s proven MonOxbar Plus PET oxygen scavenger technology for the first ever AOC wine in PET bottles.”
The U.S. introduction of Boisset Family Estates’ AOC Bonus Passus Côtes du Rhône and Yellow Jersey Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc wines comes on the heels of last year’s successful launch of Yellow Jersey wine in Canada that also employed Constar’s MonOxbar oxygen scavenger technology. It was the first 750ml PET wine bottle to be manufactured and filled in North America.
Constar marketing director Alex Fioravanti says the U.S. launch of fine French wines in PET bottles is a major win for Boisset Family Estates and for Constar. “Communities, retailers, and consumers are demanding more sustainable, eco-friendly packaging options, whether for everyday items or higher end purchases like fine wine. For some products, the barrier to conversion has been package performance. ‘Can I give consumers a ‘green’ package without sacrificing the quality and integrity of my product?’ is a question that’s often asked. With Constar’s MonOxbar Plus oxygen scavenger technology for PET, we’re able to deliver performance and sustainability to Boisset Family Estates, allowing them to satisfy the growing desire for sustainable packaging among wine consumers.”
Fioravanti says that because MonOxbar Plus is blended into PET and then blow molded into monolayer bottles, it offers tremendous design flexibility. In the case of Boisset Family Estates, the material is easily blow molded into the recognizable burgundy and claret shapes and the custom braded surface of the Yellow Jersey varietals, which features a pattern of jerseys reminiscent of the leaders’ colors in the Tour de France bicycle race.
“Monolayer PET structures are robust on filling lines and in distribution; there is no risk of delamination that you see with multi-layer containers,” Fioravanti says. “This is an added benefit for Boisset Family Estates as it is filling the bottles in its home country of France and then shipping to the United States for distribution.”
Boisset says he both enjoys and feels an obligation to be the pioneer in alternative packaging for the wine world. “All of our wines honor their unique provenance and the planet through their superb quality. It is a pleasure to be the first to use this innovative packaging technology and bring its many benefits to our many customers. Now, they not only will enjoy the pleasure of a fine wine, they can also take pleasure in knowing they are protecting the earth’s assets. Our commitment to the environment is well articulated by a traditional saying attributed to a Native American proverb: ‘We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.’ This guides us in all we do.”
| Constar International Inc. Alex Fioravanti Marketing Director +1-215-552-3735 | Walter S. Sobon Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer +1-215-552-3700 |
