Originally uploaded by mikel.
I snapped this picture yesterday as we were preparing dinner (that’s the salmon getting ready for the grill on a cedar plank on the counter) – in Ontario, they are now selling wine packaged in the same packaging they use for juice boxes. I don’t know if the trend is going to catch on, but the new format brings up a couple of thoughts.
First, they are touting the new format as an environmental thing. It’s hard to see laminated paper/plastic products as environmentally beneficial, but as they say in their marketing materials, wine in this package can be shipped much more efficiently as it weighs less (bottles are heavy) and can be packed more efficiently in trucks. I wonder if anyone can comment? It seems a bit like the disposable/cotton diaper issue in that both can be considered “environmentally friendlier” depending on your point of view.
Secondly, I noted that the wine comes from the Pays D’Oc in France, also home to Fat Bastard wines. These both identify the wine by the grape varietal that has gone into the package, something rare (and largely illegal) in France but the norm in most of the rest of the world.
Martine says
Happy birthday, Mikel! Hope you are celebrating with a gigantic tretra pak!
Miss Vicky says
We noticed the tetrapaks this weekend as well. I was tempted to give them a try, but the Webgeek immediately pointed out that bottles are eminently more recyclable. How much fossil fuel is used up reprocessing the tetrapak? does that make up for the dubious benefit of lighter shipping loads?
Smells like marketing scam to me. Aimed at us Gen-X professionals desperately trying to be environmentally responsible yet enjoy all the benefits of our hyper-consumer-oriented society.
But the real question is: how was the wine?
Vicky's Webgeek says
I’ve written off to http://www.treehugger.com to see what they think of it. Will report back any findings. Till then, I think I’ll avoid drinking wine out of anything that looks like it should ship with a bendy straw glued to the back.
Betty says
When I lived in Italy (10+ years ago) we had this all the time. The tetra paks were cheap and portable. It was not the greatest wine though, usually costing around $1 – $3 for a litre. I think the main point was ‘easy wine to drink now’, as opposed to ‘fine wine to save and drink later’.
HK says
The makers of French Rabbit paid the LCBO a bundle of money to launch this product.
It’s environmental benefit claims are dubious, as glass is easier to recycle and can even be re-used, whereas there isn’t even a plant in Ontario that can separate the layers of this laminated material to recycle them properly… so they must all be shipped south of the border!