Plastic wine bottles cut transport costs

“Ouch!” say the die-hard wine aficionados, “give it a go”, say the more tolerant, green-minded South Africans to the launch of the first environmentally friendly plastic wine bottle. None of this ‘papsak’ stuff, mind you – that was once an essential part of baggage for the down-and-out brigade – but an upmarket offering from Paarl’s Backsberg Estate. It’s called Tread Lightly and is the first certified wine (by the Wine and Spirit Board) to be sold in a new, innovative PET (polyethylene terephthalate) soft bottle. “The enjoyment of a great bottle of wine should never be at the cost of the environment,” says Backsberg owner, Michael Back. “Whether by measurable process or by intuitive approach, every step we take in producing our wines must be challenged. The packaging and transport of wine contributes significantly to our carbon footprint and therefore needs to be addressed.” In logistics speak, exports are expected to get under way within the next few months and more than likely be followed by other wines from the Backsberg portfolio. Considerable advantages are to be had in plastic over glass, the PET bottle coming in at 50gr in weight compared to 400gr for the glass equivalent. That, along with reduced diameter, allows for up to 36% more product transported in the same container space. Backsberg’s export manager, Carina Rabie, says whereas a 20-foot equivalent container would take around 1 100 cases of bottled wine, it would probably hold between 1 200 and 1 300 cases of PET bottles. “Quite a few of our customers are screaming for the product, with enquiries received from the UK, Sweden and a number of African countries – but it will really depend on what our agents think.” Backsberg exports up to 30% of total production of between 80 000 and 100 000 cases a year, much of it in less-than-container loads but it’s early days yet to determine just how PET will fare in the export stakes. There’s no negative effect on the quality of PET-bottled wine. The bottles reduce energy consumption by 52% versus glass and metal, are fully recyclable and crushable and unbreakable. One negative pointer, from a collector’s perspective, is that PET-bottled wine has a cellar life of no more than two years. Wine lovers will recall the outrage in some quarters when screw-caps replaced corks on many wines a few years ago, but there’s hardly a murmur of dissent these days – so how about plastic? As was to be expected, consumer reaction is mixed. “Long overdue,” says one. “Will take some getting used to,” responds another. “Wine in plastic? No ways, simply preposterous,” and “No, no no; we are trying to get rid of plastics and how ‘common’ would that make it look.” For now, Backberg is offering a Tread Lightly Merlot (R49) and Sauvignon Blanc (R39) exclusively to Pick n Pay stores. Each has sold more than 100 000 cases nationwide but it’s early days to determine just how many of those represent novelty buying.