Skinnygrape wine crosses over to PET

Andrew Peller Ltd.’s skinnygrape spritzers have made the crossover from glass with its recent adoption of a sleek-looking 330-ml PET bottle from Amcor Rigid Plastics. Previously, the popular 90-calorie spritzer was only available in a 750-ml glass bottle. The Canadian-based producer of quality wines is right on trend with its ready-to-drink (RTD) premium PET container as it offers convenience and portability.

Sarah Ripley, national brand manager for Andrew Peller Ltd., tells Packaging Digest that, while PET bottles are not new news in the category that ranges from PET to glass to cans, she feels the bottle design is the most feminine and the “skinny” shape lends itself well to the brand.

“The slender bottle is extremely comfortable to hold,” says Ripley. “Our consumers are mostly women and this bottle sits comfortably in their hand.”

Andrew Peller Ltd. moved to a single-serve size for the low-calorie spritzer based on an unmet demand for a wine-based low-calorie option in the RTD category. “We think the packaging is really fun and speaks to what our brand represents; and we believe our product offers consumers low calories without compromising on taste,” says Ripley. “From a consumer perspective, it boils down to brand, packaging and taste.”

The bottle also features an innovative barrier coating technology from Germany’s KHS Plasmax GmbH, which extends shelf life as it seals the container from the inside to guard the contents from oxidation and carbonation retention. The FDA-complaint transparent material is extremely thin (less than 100nm) and is resistant to cracking, abrasion and delamination. During the recycling process the coating is removed to avoid any contamination to the recycling system.

The company says that Amcor’s “cradle to grave” development process was key to launching the product quickly to market. From design concept development to unit mold sampling and third-party filling assistance, Amcor was able to help with a successful product launch. “Our new product launch was highly successful because Amcor brought us a full range of design concepts and followed the project from development to execution with a high attention to detail,” says Ripley. “Their technical expertise and market knowledge helped to quickly take the design from concept to store shelf.”

Todd Mastic, principal engineer and project manager for Amcor, says that “since Amcor is a market leader in this segment, we were able to bring industry knowledge and significant resources to bear on this project, thus keeping the development and commercialization costs and timing to a minimum.”