tod_7_case study - the benefits of importing wine in bulk-1

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The beneits o importing wine in bulkBoosting quality, logistical beneits and reducing CO2 emissions.

Case Study

The UK is the world’s largest wine importer,with more than 1.3 billion litres enteringthe country each year.

Bulk importing o wine, or bottling in the UK,is increasingly seen as a more cost-eectiveand environmentally sound alternativeto bottling at source. It can reduce CO2 emissions, address consumer concernsabout environmental impact and stimulatethe market or UK recycled green glass.

And due to advancements in tankertechnology and quality protocols, bulkimported wine can arrive in better conditionthan wine bottled at source.

WRAP (Waste & Resources Action

Programme), with British Glass, ran a majortwo-year project called GlassRite Wine,

which looked at the key issues and perceivedbarriers associated with bulk importing wineand the lightweighting o wine bottles.

The project operated throughout the winesupply chain, rom the vineyard to theUK supermarket shel. Research lookingat the logistics and bottling o wine inthe UK, ound that bulk importing canmaintain quality and unlock a range owelcome business beneits - rom reducedtransportation costs to increased productshel lie by being bottled closer to market.

While consideration must be given to thesocial impact o not bottling at source insome countries, an increasing number o

producers, retailers and brand ownersare now turning to bulk importing, as away o ulilling their environmental andcommercial objectives.

Key acts

As a result o GlassRite Wine, 199million 75cl glass bottles are nowflled with bulk imported wine each

year in the UK - an increase o 79million glass bottles.

Use o recycled glass in the UK hasincreased by nearly 24,000 tonnes peryear, as there is a greater demand orUK manuactured wine bottles.

The increased use o recycled glass,and CO2 savings as a result o theincrease in bulk importing, has savedmore than 20,000 tonnes o CO2 eachyear – equivalent to taking over 6,000

cars o the road.Switching to the bulk importation owine provides a range o businessbenefts, rom increased product shellie to reduction o around 40% intransport costs.



About GlassRite Wine

The project ran rom summer 2006 to

spring 2008 and involved all stages o thesupply chain, including producers, retailers,exporters, bottle manuacturers and illers.

More than 10 separate bulk importinginitiatives were launched. The projectocused strongly on New World wines, astheir market share and geographical locationpresented the biggest opportunity to makeenvironmental and commercial gains.

A question o quality

As quality is key, any changes to the

transportation o wine and potential impactneed to be seriously investigated. As a result,the project looked closely at the eects obulk importation on wine quality, by studyingmodern storage and transportation methods.

The research suggests that improvementsin storage technology, handling acilities andquality protocols mean that modern bulkimporting methods can be relied upon topreserve the integrity o a wine.

Improvements in lexitank materials havesigniicantly reduced the incidence ooxidation and taint in bulk shipped wine.Temperature stability was also shown to beimproved by bulk shipment – since a largersingle volume o liquid has a greater thermalinertia than a smaller one. This indicatesthat wine bulk shipped by sea is less at risko temperature variations than those shippedin bottles.

Boosting the market or recycled greenglass in the UK

The UK imports huge quantities o greenglass every year, mainly as wine bottles.As domestic green bottle manuacturingis considerably less than the availablerecycled green glass, much o the surplusrecycled green glass is currently exportedto the Continent or is used as an aggregatesubstitute.

Bulk wine importing however, requires UKglass manuacturers to produce more greenbottles to respond to demand as a result oincreased bottling activities in the UK. This

creates demand or recycled green glass,ensuring that a more sustainable use ismade o this resource.

By increasing bulk importing, GlassRiteWine has increased recycled green glass usein the UK by nearly 24,000 tonnes per year.This igure is predicted to grow substantiallyin uture years.

Reducing CO2 emissions

There is huge potential to reduce CO2 emissions through the bulk importation

o wine.

An estimated 20% o Australian wine iscurrently bulk imported into the UK, savingaround 11,000 tonnes o CO2 per year.However, by increasing these volumes,and using lighter weight bottles, a urther122,500 tonnes o CO2 could be saved romAustralian imports alone. The table belowshows the ranking o signiicant actors orreducing emissions rom the import o winerom Australia.

The benefts o importing wine in bulk

Courtesy o Hillebrand Bulk/Trans Ocean Distribution

“By encouragingthe industry tobulk import wineand bottle it herein the UK, weare reducing theamount of greenglass entering

our recyclingsystems,increasing thedomestic marketfor recycledglass and alsoincreasing theuse of lighterweight bottles,which use lessraw material andare better for theenvironment.”

“As well ascutting glasswaste, thisapproach alsoimproves theindustry’s carbonemissions profile,and saves moneyby reducingtransport andenergy costs.”

Claire Shrewsbury,Glass Sector Manager,WRAP 0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400375

237 230

164

100

0

Bulk and

bottled in300g

Bulk and

bottled in400g

g r a m m e C 0 2 s a v i n g p e r 7 5 c l b o t t l e

Bulk andbottled in

500g

Bottled atsource in

300g

Bottled at

source in400g

Bottled at

source in500g



The benefts o importing wine in bulk

The logistical beneits o bulk importation

There are many business beneits associated

with bulk importing, including:transport costs: a standard containerholds 12,000 to 13,000 bottles whereasa standard lexitank used or bulkimportation holds a volume o equivalentto 32,000 bottles o wine, therebyresulting in more wine per tanker trip,and thereore reduced transport costs;

shel lie: bulk shipping deers themoment o bottling and thus the starto the wine’s shel lie. This beneitsretailers because the entirety o shel lieis spent in the country o sale;

less damage: damage to bottles andlabels is reduced when the product isilled closer to the destination point; and

supply lexibility: bottling at the point oarrival, rather than at source means morelexibility to respond to customers’ ordersand promotional or seasonal uplits.

Bulk importing in action

GlassRite Wine supported a wide range o

bulk importing initiatives. These included:

Constellation Europe: ConstellationEurope owns many well-known winebrands such as Stowells, Echo Falls andKumala. It currently bulk imports theequivalent o 55 million 75cl units o wineinto the UK, and with a new UK bottlingacility in the pipeline, the igure is set toat least double in 2009;

Corby Bottlers: Corby Bottlers suppliesapproximately 5.4 million 75cl units

o wine bulk imported rom Australia,Caliornia, Chile and South Arica eachyear, all o which is bottled in the UK; and

Kingsland Wines & Spirits: majorindependent wine supplier, KingslandWines & Spirits now bottles bulkimported wine or The Co-operative andTesco. The Co-operative takes around 8.3million 75cl units rom Kingsland, whileTesco’s own label wines eature 54 million75cl units that have been bulk importedrom various countries.

“Bulk importing is integral to us asa company and our key customers.We have seen a reduction intransport costs and CO2 emissions,while our customers have benefitedfrom increased shelf-life and fewer

breakages compared to importationin bottles. It has made a lot ofcommercial and environmentalsense for everyone involved.”

Michael Forde, Supply Chain Director,Kingsland Wines & Spirits

Calculating the savings o bulk importing

To help the wine industry calculate theenvironmental and cost savings associatedwith bulk importing, WRAP has developed an

easy-to-use website-based calculator.

This calculator measures the savings ortransport costs, material costs, packagingsavings, and CO2 emissions reductions orwine transported rom various countries.The calculator is available at:www.wrap.org.uk/winebottles

tod_7_case study - the benefits of importing wine in bulk-1

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