Eco Glass for Wineries from TricorBraun

Helping wineries create a smaller carbon footprint and save the planet 750 ml at a time

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Eco Cerificate

Eco Cerificate

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Cedar Creek Wine Shop

Cedar Creek Wine Shop

Going green just got easier! Wineries can now get Eco Certificates to display in their wineries and on their websites. All you have to do is ensure 80% of your wine bottles are from the ECO Series® bottle line from Ardagh Group distributed through TricorBraun WinePak.

Not long ago TricorBraun got a call from CedarCreek Winery enquiring about eco certificates for using lightweight glass bottles. There was no certification at the time, but that soon changed.

“Our customers were asking about the ecological footprint of CedarCreek Winery,” said Marketing Manager, Anahita Pouget. “I explained to Heidi Cook, the Business Development Manager for TricorBraun WinePak, that we wanted some sort of documentation to share with our consumers, winery visitors and our community. We use eco glass for the majority of our wines and we wondered if our bottle supplier, TricorBraun, had anything for their customers to display.”

Cook thought it was a great idea and the guidelines for the certificate were quickly established. “We check our records to ensure that wineries have purchased 80% of their wine bottles from the ECO Series® product line. Qualifying wineries receive their certificate via email, which they can print, or use in sending out eblasts and newsletters to their customers.”

Aside from the ECO Series® bottles, Ardagh Group are the founders of the ground breaking, short run Ardagh FlexRun® which allows customers to take an existing mold and make adjustments to customize with embossment, different neck finish or punted options.

“It’s easy to be aware of your carbon footprint and create beautiful bottles at the same time,” said Cook. “Our customers can get their bottles with embossing or any finish they want. TricorBraun speaks to the customers, finds out what they want and custom orders it through Ardagh. We are hoping customers want to do something unique that is hard to copy.”

Aside from supplying unique and beautiful bottles, Ardagh’s core values align with TricorBraun's when it comes to creating a small carbon footprint. “Ardagh makes a great product from recycled glass,” said Cook. “They have energy star rewards for reducing emissions and we want to work with people who are concerned about what we are doing to the planet. We also want to educate the consumer on how to buy efficiently made products.”

The ECO Series® bottles weigh less than traditional wine bottles, thereby reducing shipping costs for the winery. Although wineries pay more up front for the bottles, they save it on the back end when it comes time to ship out their product. Wineries save over three ounces in weight for each ECO Series® glass bottle. That’s a lot of weight when it comes to pallets of wine being shipped out. At 550 to 675 bottles per pallet, that’s a savings of 1650 to 2025 oz., or 40 to 45 kg (100 to 125 lbs.) per pallet in bottle weight alone.

To make the ECO Series® bottles even more attractive, they are produced right here in North America.  “This makes their distribution across the continent less expensive that importing from overseas,” said Cook. “It allows for quick turn around, increased flexibility of scheduling, and lessens logistical issues. A lot of times when you bring glass in from overseas you have 90 days to shipping from date of purchase and then four to six weeks to get here,” explained Cook. “When there is shipping from the Seattle plant it is only a three-day turnaround.

The ECO Series® glass bottles are made in a special mold designed by Ardagh Group. Ardagh Group is the largest glass recycler in North America. At present they operate at 55-60% recycled glass, but that is only because they can’t get enough glass to recycle. Ardagh utilizes clean burning furnaces and they ensure the bottles are aesthetically exceptional and meet the highest standards of quality, efficiency and are environmentally sustainable.

Ardagh Group won the Energy Star Award and was awarded the Sustained Excellence award in 2009, 2010 and 2011. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has recognized five Ardagh Group facilities with ENERGY STAR® Plant Certification in 2014, placing them among the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA.

Today, more and more customers make purchases based on how products impact the environment. The eco sustainable products certificate is one way of letting them know they’re purchasing wine that’s made with the environment and the consumer in mind.

For more information go to www.tricorbraunwinepak.com

Call Heidi Cook at 604-649-5623

2015 Eco Sustainable Products Certificates were issued to:

www.tricorbraunwinepak.com

Call Heidi Cook at 604-649-5623