According to president Jon Sebastiani, customers had been making it clear for some time that the plastic foam material was not to their liking. Since the switch about eight months ago, he adds, “A surprising number of e-mails have come in from customers who appreciate our switch.”
Sebastiani reports two added benefits gained since the switch in packaging materials. First, the pulp pieces nest, which saves considerable space and makes them easier to work with. And second, the pulp packaging is “significantly” cheaper than the foam it replaces, according to Sebastiani.
Made by EnviroPak (St. Louis, MO), the molded paper pulp packaging used by Viansa is made from 100% post-consumer recycled newspaper. It’s also, says EnviroPak, biodegradable and recyclable. Viansa purchases its pulp packaging material from distributor Unisource (Norcross, GA), which provides it in this case primarily in one-, two-, or three-compartment configurations. Viansa encases its wines in matching top and bottom pieces of material and encloses that in a corrugated shipper that is taped shut. (PR)
