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The Commerce of Contract Wine and Spirits Bottling

Packaging the outer image of the wine and spirits, contract bottling does it all.

Embellishing the wine and spirits which come from their very manufacturers, in the most outstanding and safe manner is what the contract bottling business is all about. When the wineries and distilleries are not in a position to go ahead with the packaging, bottling and designing a label for their wine and spirits, they sign a contract with the contract bottling company. There are private labels as well as those who acquire the wine and spirits from the producers and give the work of bottling, designing and packaging to these contract bottling companies. The contract bottling companies are a boon for the wines and spirits because they will design the ‘Face’ of those liquids.

When a producer, wishes to enhance his production capabilities and want to invest more and more in different production tools rather than investing in the equipment and personnel for packaging his product and even designing a label for it, the contract bottlers come to his rescue.

Apart from producers as mentioned, there are private labels who buy the wine from the producers and give the contract of printing and packaging to these contract bottling companies, who design everything on the private label brand name. Marketing is also done under its name.

The spirits packaging does differ from the wine packaging. The spirit bottles majorly have aluminum screw caps, crown corks, flip-top, etc, while the wine bottle caps are generally the corks. Yes, today cork is being replaced due to the cork taint problem which is rising, but with betterments, the original cork might get back. This indicates, that the contract bottlers have to work towards using a good quality cork which won’t cause cork taint and will keep the wine healthy. Another difference is the bottle type, i.e. the shape and size of the bottle differ for wine and spirits packaging. While the wine bottles tend to be much delicate and need to be slender in order to fit in as much as possible, the case of spirit bottles is a bit different. Short and broad bottles, miniatures, big sized bottles are bottle types mainly for the spirits. Thus, the contract bottlers keep these specifications in mind and work towards the bottling and packaging of wine and spirits using specific materials for each liquid.

When a bottle of fine wine or great spirit hits the market and is on those shelves, the first thing people will notice is how does it look. Here, the people do sometimes judge a bottle of wine or spirits by its cover and that is why the wineries and distilleries want to have it right by giving the packaging and labeling responsibility of their liquids to the contract bottling companies.

Acquiring capital for the packaging and designing equipment cannot be every winery or distillery’s cup of tea! Thus, when extra capital cannot be obtained, the best option to go for is contract bottling. Acquiring, training staff for packaging can also be stressful. Therefore, by all means, to be rest assured about the packaging, bottling, and labeling, the producers opt for contract bottling services.

Contract bottlers have the required machinery, equipment, expert people with creative heads, different bottling patterns, innovative label ideas, techniques for safe and sound packaging which can withstand any further transportation or transition. These are the most important aspects the manufacturer thinks of, after producing the wine or spirit, and he would not want to go wrong in these aspects.

Along with satisfying the basic packaging and bottling needs of the manufacturers and the private label owners, these contract bottling companies can also be of great help in the logistics. Centrally located contractors can help the national distribution of your wine or spirit efficiently, given they have the federal and state license.

This business of assembling the wine or spirit into final finished packaging and converting it into a final product can also gain you some brownie points if done in a timely manner. Coordinating with the contract bottlers, to start making packaging for your wine or spirit, the moment you start its production can fetch you great results. That is because once the production is over, the liquids are timely packaged and packed which saves a lot of time, thus making the products hit the market as soon as possible and making a good brand image. Therefore, contract bottling companies do help in saving time and building a great brand image.

If we dig deep into the contract bottling world, there are so many things this business can do. They are also quite versed into maintaining the inventory of the pre-packed products like packaging, building manuals, card stock, promo stickers, etc., along with warehousing and distribution of the packaged products. The ‘storing element’ of the packaged wine and spirits is also done well.

Contract bottlers are quite flexible when a sudden production need arises and can cater to produce any special customized labels or packaging as per the need. Another benefit is that when packaging is needed to promote the wine or spirit in a different way or pertaining to some festive packaging, the contract bottlers can provide innovative ideas to do that, thus making it easy for the producers to market and promote their wine/spirits well in the market.

Contract bottling company like Blue Label digital printing based in Lancaster, Ohio is into the digital printing of labels. This company as its name suggests is a digital printing company which develops labels with augmented reality concept, bringing the wine/spirits label to life. Wine brands like 19 Crimes have taken up this augmented reality concept to their label, where their wine label comes to life and narrates the wine story.

Such contract bottling companies who provide these tech-friendly innovative services to the producers of wine and spirits, help to highlight the story behind starting their brand where the brand label designed by them speaks for the wine or spirit.

All in all, good services provided by the contract bottlers add to great marketing, and in turn, increased sales for the manufacturer. While contract bottlers provide such services, it becomes an additional benefit for the producers where they are not just getting their packaging, bottling done by the experts, but are also getting the creative type of labeling which will add to the beauty and value of their wine or spirit.

Contract bottling services generally include adding Thermoformed material, plastic clamshell, blister packaging, adding a barcode sticker and planning, designing, producing and fulfilling an entire package. Contract bottling business has a lot on hand because they are taking the most crucial responsibility of bottling and labeling the wines and spirits without which it will not do great in the market where it wants to. When the manufacturer hands over the second most important segment responsibility, that is the packaging of their liquids to a third party, he expects it to be done so perfectly as the way these liquids were manufactured. Yes, what is in the bottle matters the most but so does the bottle itself because, without the correct look, information, packaging done for the wine/spirits, no one would like to read about it or even hold it in the first place. Thus, contract bottling has this important responsibility on its shoulder to make it all correct from the look to the packaging for the wines and spirits before it reaches the consumers.

There are a number of other contract bottlers who perform this task of contract bottling in the best possible manner. Companies like Purple wine + spirits based in Graton, CA  does this task of bottling along with other functions where in the case of bottling services, they have six modern bottling lines with which they can do voluminous bottling and their services can suit any small or big private label project with capability of contacting 20,000 cases per day as well.

Another apt example for the contract bottling service provider is of a company named Liquor Bottle based in New York City, and their work is all about providing with bottle catalog, bottle caps, cartons, gift promo packaging, designing/ engineering the packaging.

Quoting yet another contract bottling company named Saverglass based in Napa, CA which specializes in glass bottling, manufacturing and decorating bottles of spirits, fine wine, and sparkling wine.

In the contract bottling world, not every wine or spirit that comes is a going to be a private label. Yes, contract bottlers largely serve private labels but there are cases when these contract bottlers buy wine or spirits in bulk or any quantity, bottling and labeling them at much cheaper costs. So, there are wineries and distilleries which sell bulk or normal quantity of wine and spirits to these contract bottling companies which further do business.

Thus, the business of contract bottling continues to grow as more and more producers turn into private labels. They prefer to outsource the packaging and labeling of their wine and spirits, thus making room for better production for themselves and letting the contract bottlers do what they are here for.

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