Is all our wine packaging necessary?

Packaging gets a lot of attention nowadays, with the media assuming it a bad thing to have. However it is an integral part of getting the product to the consumer in usable condition.

In a business that uses a lot of glass packaging is a key issue. When you have a fragile bottle you become very aware of the risk of breakages.

Sending in bulk is easy as we use pallets, which don't get dropped. Even so the bottles must be in cardboard boxes. Ideally boxes with dividers for safety when the customer unpacks the pallet at the other end. All this cardboard then becomes a considerable pile of waste when the bottles are used. Unfortunate but inevitable, you can't allow the bottles to break.

Smaller deliveries use much more packaging. When you ship by courier the risk of breakage soars, and if 1 bottle breaks it ruins all the personalised labels on the other bottles. At peak times, such as Christmas, you know that the couriers are so busy that that will not even notice if the box is labeled fragile. So for simple business reasons we resort to the following.For a case of 12 bottles we pack into heavy duty boxes with dividers containing 6 bottles each. We add neck protectors to hold the bottles rigid. These 2 boxes are then packed together into a large heavy duty cardboard box, covered with fragile and breakable stickers. As a Christmas bonus each individual bottle is put in a bubble wrap bag first.

A mountain of waste for the recipient perhaps, but at least they get their personalised champagne bottles intact.