The new two-ply laminated structure is made of a base material of 26-pt GPI Pearlkote and an internal layer of 16-pt GPI Omnikote. GPI prints the box flats in six colors via a sheet-fed offset printing process.
Winery spokesman Joel Tefft notes, “We chose GPI as our box material supplier because they had a solution to our bulging problem.” He explains the difficulty was “caused by the liquid going to the lowest level and pushing out the sides of the box. The direction of the corrugation made the [previous] box weaker. The new box’s Z-Flute helps counteract wine bulge. The box also has improved compression strength to provide better stacking strength during product storage and distribution. And the material is cost-effective. We are saving approximately 40 percent compared to the cost of the old box materials.”
Tefft Cellars uses semi-automatic bag-filling equipment from Scholle Corp. to fill the wine bags. The bags, also supplied by Scholle, come with preapplied dispensing valve fitments. The filled and sealed wine bags then are manually packed into the wine boxes. Tefft reports, “We did not have to make any changes in our packaging line equipment to accommodate the new boxes, and our packaging speeds have remained the same. The key benefits are lower packaging material costs and heightened brand visibility on the shelf. We are very pleased with the look of the new box, and consumer reception has been great.” —Judy Rice
