BOTTLE MAKING 24 PETplanet Insider Vol. 23 No. 09/22 www.petpla.net Wine in PET The wine market is looking at alternative solutions to glass containers, mainly because of the lack of raw material but not limited to it. So it’s a good time to enter the sector with PET bottles, thinks Gianfranco Zoppas, owner of Sipa and our interviewee. PETplanet: Hello, Mr Zoppas. When we last met two years ago, you were talking of “difficult times” during the coronavirus pandemic. How would you describe things now in view of the war in Ukraine, the exploding energy prices and the difficulties in procurement? Zoppas [laughs]: Even more difficult, of course. But we mustn’t forget that it’s these high energy costs that are giving us a boost in the PET sector. Producing and transporting PET bottles is now significantly more energy-saving - and therefore more environmentalfriendly - than glass bottles. This gives us the opportunity to break into sectors previously dominated by glass. PETplanet: Are you thinking of wine? Zoppas: Yes wine, and Prosecco of course. Here in Veneto, one billion bottles of Prosecco are filled each year. Last season, only 750 million glass bottles could be supplied. What are the wine growers doing with the remaining Prosecco? I think before the wine industry turns to substandard processing of their products, the PET bottle could open up new markets through innovative design. PETplanet: You think that a passionate wine drinker will buy wine in PET? Zoppas: I think so. And not only because of the lack of glass bottles but also a natural and progressive move from consumers since plastic bottles have been around for some time now, for example in planes or for spirits. Our packaging development team has recently developed a PET bottle perfectly replaceable to the current glass sparkling wine bottles ensuring filling on existing glass lines. The innovation focused on recreating the neck, typical of glass bottles, for the cork cap and cage closure. The bottles have been tested on glass lines ensuring perfect interchangeability with the current ones. The final consumer will live an experience in line with the containers currently on the market, from uncorking to pouring. The lighter container perfectly meets the needs of logistics, unbreakability and lightness increasingly required by new sales channels such as e-commerce and home delivery. Another example is the letterbox bottle from Garçon Wines (www. garconwines.com). These can be sent by post and delivered through the letterbox. There are many innovative examples. In our newly founded design lab for wine bottles, we are working on different ideas and how to implement them. PETplanet: Where is the cost benefit for the bottler as compared to a glass bottle with label and cap? Zoppas: I believe it’s not only the cost which is lower for PET bottles. From the viewpoint of the bottler, it’s also the availability of bottles, it’s about saving energy on each bottle both during production and of course in transportation, and it’s also a recyclable product - to name a few examples. Mr Zoppas and Alexander Büchler in front of the Xtreme with 100% rPET prefom manufacturing Sparkling wine bottle from the Sipa Design Laboratory
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