Trade talk: What is the next frontier for the closures industry?

Carlos de Jesus, director of marketing and communication, Amorim

“For a long time we have been discussing the negatives of cork. But with all the preventative and curative measures well established, and the runaway success of our revolutionary NDTech non-detectable TCA guarantee system, it is time to talk positively about the three main benefits that a cork stopper brings to a bottle of wine, incorporating what we now know today.

“In our opinion, the next frontier is to ensure that closure purchasing decisions by the wine trade are made in the full knowledge of consumer preferences, positive sustainability and value-added creation. Cork ticks all those boxes.

“Cork is a 100% natural material that is environmentally friendly, re-usable and recyclable. Research over the past two years has shown that over 80% of consumers in the US, China and the UK would prefer to buy a cork-closed wine.

“In the UK recent findings have shown that a cork closure can deliver a premium positioning that adds anything from £1.50 per bottle retail up to £5.38 in the on-trade, compared to those sealed with an artificial closure. That is a very significant figure – and the highest value-added opportunity in the world.

“Sales of cork closures are growing faster than overall wine consumption so there are clearly cork-positive swings in market share. In the UK on-trade, sales of cork-closed wines are up 48% since 2015, compared to 10% for artificial closures, while the latest Neilsen research for the retail sector shows a growth year-on-year of over 6% in value sales. This demonstrates that a cork-closed wine provides increased sales and revenue for the retailer or restaurant.

“At the same time, ease of recycling is becoming a key issue –particularly in the light of alternative metal stoppers and the growing furore over plastics. Used corks can be collected and ground down for many secondary uses from wall tiles and flooring to sandals, and in Portugal we have the world’s largest recycling unit for this natural material.”

Dominique Tourneix, CEO, DIAM

“Choosing a closure for bottling wine will increasingly be a winemaking decision. In the future closures will be more consistent and clean with no variation from one closure to another that leads to wine bottle variation due to OTR inconsistency.

“Closures will also have to be environmentally friendly and manufacturers will have to work on reducing their carbon footprint by using green chemistry processes and renewable raw materials.

“By managing the OTR accurately, closures will be engineered to respond to wine oxygen consumption. When this happens, closures will become a tool for the winemaker to achieve their desired wine evolution during the time the wine spends inside the bottle.”

Paolo Boratto, marketing manager, Tapi

“The next frontier for the closures industry lies in premiumisation, a concept that embraces product exclusivity, continuous innovation and first-class services. The needs of consumers are being paid close attention in order to ensure they are given an authentic drinking experience.

“For us, this translates into a tailor-made approach where we offer the brands we work with customised projects and one-to-one services in order to make their packaging unique and impactful. We do this by experimenting with alternative materials like raw wood and ceramics. Sustainability and environmental ethics issues are fundamental to us, and have forced us to rethink the company’s processes and the materials we use.”

Kateřina Slezáková, marketing manager, Vinolok

“It is a very hard and complicated question. I honestly feel the closure business has stablilsed at the moment and isn’t in a stage of rapid development. Saying that, the question of ecology and sustainability has not been solved. It will take a bit more time for this to happen when consumers start seriously taking it into consideration. When this happens I feel that natural materials will have more prominence in the market.”

José Silva Chief, CEO, MaSilva

“Cork is the future of closures industry. It brings together science, new technology and a sustainable future. The challenge for cork producers is to keep investing in research and cutting-edge technology to reach further performance expectations of the wine industry and its consumers. MaSilva will continue its work towards delivering award-winning technology and the finest premium corks.

“This commitment goes hand in hand with sustainable practices, efficient use of materials and natural resources to leverage the already negative carbon footprint of corks, improving and developing social responsibility by helping industry workers and communities, as well as our environmental contribution through cork forest management and its ecosystem.”

Lucie Neubauerova, trade & communications manager, Amcor

“The future is ‘connected’ closures and capsules. Technology has transformed our everyday lives. The advantage of putting the digital ‘seal’ (either a chip or serial code) inside the closure is that it’s the most viable place on the bottle to do so given that counterfeiters access a bottle via its closure.

“Giving every bottle of wine or spirits a unique digital identity will help to protect the liquid in the bottle. Smart closures can be beneficial for track&trace and spotting grey market diversion, for anti-counterfeiting and also for consumer engagement, as it will allow brand owners to communicate directly with their consumers in a personalised way.

Federica Maltauro, marketing manager, Lebranta

“Providing different materials, shapes and colours to offer tailor-made solutions to clients is the next frontier of the closure industry. Companies are looking for a “wow effect” product that stands out for its quality and exclusivity.

“Closures must underline the value of a brand, a value perceived from the packaging as a whole. Premiumisation at Labrenta means diversification, uniqueness and customisation. Each customer is managed with the awareness of its singularity. We take care of our customers providing them a closure made to increase the whole item perception that underlines the uniqueness of the product.”

Elena Zaharieva, director investor relations, Herti

“The closures industry follows the trends of the drinks industry, looking for innovative closures to satisfy consumers’ needs for ease of use, an appealing look and authenticity of the product. People search for products on their mobile phones before purchasing in store or online.

“They are interested in technology, details about the producer, the ingredients of the product, and the impact on their health and the environment. All this information should be easily retrieved from the packaging of the product by smart phone apps. As it is an important part of the packaging, the closures industry needs to be open to the new technologies and keep on top of the latest innovations.”

Michele Moglia, CEO, Enoplastic  

“The industry needs to keep moving forward in order to drive innovation in terms of technology and the capability to introduce new materials and amazing effects for both still and sparkling wines and spirits. Brands are looking for new ideas in order to raise brand awareness and catch the customer’s attention. Thanks to nonstop investment in R&D, Enoplastic offers never seen before products that provide amazing options for closing and dressing bottles, from velvet-like and pearl effects to fluo colours.”

Greg Hirson, senior technical services director, Cork Supply

“Today the industry is focused on TCA screening, but the next frontier for closures will be looking at the performance characteristics of these closures to better understand their impact on the long-term aging of wines. There are many factors that contribute to the long-term bottle to bottle variability, and controlling how closures contribute to this will be an area of new development.”

Dr. Heino Freudenberg, president & CEO, Vinventions

“Over the past several years the wine industry has embraced accelerating innovation in closures and Vinventions has proudly driven parts of this development – we developed TCA-free inner-seal closures with Nomacorc back in 1997, established professional oxygen management for wine closures in 2007 and launched the sustainable closure movement with our zero-carbon footprint PlantCorcs in 2013 to name but a few.

“Looking ahead, we see at least three major trends building up. Firstly, premiumisation of wine will drive value growth over volume growth in wine. Wine will become more precious and wine marketing will become more differentiated. Closures will do their part to help wineries differentiate their packaging to perfectly match specific wine-drinker segments and wine-types.

“Secondly, sustainability will turn from ‘nice-to-have’ to become a true differentiator as millennials start to pay a premium for true sustainability and consistent ethics. Thirdly, the combination of the above leads to a new megatrend in wine closures: sustainable high-performance closures.

“Wineries and wine lovers call for truly sustainable closures, which are at the same time truly high-performing. Today, there are three types of sustainable high-performance closures: plant-based Plantcorc by Nomacorc, using sugarcane as natural raw material, offering a negative carbon footprint, yet 25 years of wine preservation.

“Nature-based SÜBR by Ohlinger, which uses micro-agglomerated natural cork and a binder based on natural sugar, i.e. 100% glue-free and with 15 years of wine preservation. Lastly, single-piece natural corks like Selektion by Ohlinger, which are guaranteed TCA-taint-free. Going forward, wine closures will be all about natural raw materials, very low carbon-footprint, beautiful designs and, of course, impeccable wine preservation.

“For Vinventions, sustainable high-performance closures are the source of our strong organic growth – from 2.5 billion closures in 2016 to 2.7 billion closures in 2017. Our dedication to innovation and sustainability makes us confident to protect every 6^th bottle of wine worldwide by 2021.”