Packaging award for reusable wine containers

TAMPA, Florida – Liviri, a division of Otter Products, and Napa, California-based Alejandro Bulgheroni Wines have won the 2020 Excellence in Reusable Packaging award from the Reusable Packaging Association (RPA).

Bulgheroni won for their 2020 implementation of the Liviri Vino⁶, a reusable, temperature-controlled wine shipping container, demonstrating the cost savings and environmental impact reductions resulting from the replacement of traditional insulated corrugated cardboard shipping boxes with the reusable Liviri Vino⁶.

Traditionally, wine is packed in single-use corrugated cardboard shippers with expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation and single-use gel cooling packs. These single use containers do not have enough insulation or coolant to protect wine if travelling a long distance or through very hot or very cold areas, so two-day air or express freight is often used to improve the likelihood that the wine stays in its target temperature zone.

Liviri Vino⁶ uses aerospace-grade insulation, secure quick-clip latches for easy opening and a single reusable ice pack designed to slide into the centre compartment of the container, creating efficient thermal performance. The result is significantly better temperature control, so wine can be shipped via ground transportation and avoid costly and environmentally damaging air express methods.

“Liviri Vino is reusable, which makes it not only functional, but also sustainable,” said Brian Jacoby, Senior vice-president for sales at Liviri.

“Our goals are to limit the seasonality of the wine shipping industry, greatly reduce single-use packaging and produce environmentally preferable reusable, shipping solutions that can be recycled at end of life. Demand is high during the most challenging shipping months, but due to the risk of frozen or ‘cooked’ wine, shipments are extremely limited and must be sent via air express. Liviri Vino opens up these months to regular shipping practices for our customers, like Alejandro Bulgheroni Wines.”

The Liviri team engaged environmental consultancy Sphera to perform a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to quantify the environmental impact of Liviri Vino. Even with two legs of ground transportation and return shipment, Liviri Vino outperformed single-use shippers.

The polypropylene material used for Liviri Vino⁶ is recyclable at the end of its life. In addition to the environmental benefits, real world testing conducted by Liviri have shown that Liviri Vino is capable of maintaining wine within an acceptable temperature window of 35 – 70º F for up to five days during extreme hot or cold conditions, giving wine producers added flexibility in shipping to customers.

The RPA Excellence in Reusable Packaging award recognizes companies and organizations that have developed and implemented innovative and measurable reusable packaging solutions in a business-to-business supply chain. 2020 marks the ninth year for this annual award program.

Submissions are reviewed by an independent panel of judges who are not members of the Association. This year the judges were:

• Michelle Fay, Program Manager, StopWaste
• Laszlo Horvath, CPL, Assistant Professor and Director, Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials at Virginia Tech University
• Rick LeBlanc, Editor, PackagingRevolution.net
• Patrick McDavid, CPP, CPLP, Instructor, Michigan State University School of Packaging.