SA product helps mitigate wine transport risks

The export of wine is a riskintensive business – and understanding the pitfalls is key to avoiding product deterioration. Thermal shocks, contamination, odours and even humidity infiltration are issues that need to be addressed, Pierre Corvisier, director new services for the Hillebrand Group, told FTW last week. “Research has found that different wines react differently to temperature increases – be it the loss of the aroma or the change in colour of the product,” he said. “Containers below deck on a vessel are subject to conducted and conveyed heat from the ship’s machinery and the operation of reefers in the hold to the hot sea waters it travels in.” He said for years logistics operators have advised wine exporters to try to get their containers below deck – but in fact more temperature changes happen there than on deck where the containers are only exposed to sunlight, solar radiation and ambient temperatures. “The fact is though that ship planners do not take the content of a container into consideration when it is placed on a vessel. The criteria for the determination of where it goes is based on the type of container, the weight and the sequence of loading and offloading at the various ports of call en route to the final destination.” He said while reefers remained the best way to transport wine they were an expensive option. “It can cost three times more to use a reefer than a dry container, but even if cost were not a consideration the production of reefers has significantly decreased since 2009.” Of the 15 million containers in the world only 1.5 million are reefers, resulting in many exporters being forced to use dry containers. “At the same time the containers available are getting older and are being used by more people, increasing the risk of contamination significantly. Bacteria, germs, smells and stains in containers can be a risk to the product being transported in it. Active and passive fumigation also needs to be taken into consideration – as well as humidity over an extended period of time. According to Corvisier, the South African-produced Vinliner, a multipurpose protection system designed for the JF Hillebrand Group, is one solution to the risks posed when shipping wine. “The aluminium-coated, woven polyethylene fabric is placed in dry containers or over pallets and reduces the effects of thermal shocks, potential contamination, temperature differentiation, heat and even odour infiltration.” He said it was a costeffective way to help ensure that wine arrived in an optimum condition at its final destination. “Exporters should not be down-grading from a reefer if that is what they are using, but this liner, which creates a sealed, zip-closed protective barrier within a container, is a much safer way of transporting wine than just using a dry container.”