- Consumer & Luxury
The global wine business - Success is surely in the Bag? ... and in the Box
Can nothing stop the popularity of bag-in-box wines? Having gained acceptance from wine purists, major wine growers and the traditional buying public, bag-in-box (BiB) wines are in big demand.The benefits of using a BiB design from Billerud.
Growth is coming from some surprising sources such as Chile and Argentina, and from some not so surprising sources such as China, where wine consumption has doubled twice over the past five years and is expected to double again by 2016. But it’s not just emerging markets, traditional markets such as France are also appreciating the more practical benefits of boxed wines.
Wine in the global supply chain
However, exporting BiB wines is not without its challenges. Time and humidity are key factors. Climate conditions change throughout the supply chain with poor box construction and sub-standard material leading to bulging, leakages and unnecessary damage. The result of this is increased waste, reduced profits and long-term damage to established brands.
That’s why Billerud began working with one of the world’s biggest wine growers – using premium wood fibres to improve box construction and performance throughout the supply chain. Magnus Björklund, manager of our R&D facility at the Gruvön mill in Sweden, was responsible for the BiB optimisation project:
A few BiB facts
In a wine market whose net global value will grow beyond $300 billion (a rise of 18%) by 2016, the BiB format is growing at 6% annually and rising. Growth is not only coming from emerging markets but also traditional markets such as France. The U.S.A. is the biggest consumer of BiB wines where there is a general acceptance of boxed products for alcoholic beverages.
Wine is just one of many markets that utilise the smart and efficient Bag-in-Box format. Motor oil, olive oil and various chemicals are some of many more applications.