Should the Port trade move to six-packs?

[Tom Archer]

Much depends on whether the bottles are being packed in wooden cases or corrugated cartons, and also who the target customer is.

Supermarkets want packing sizes that fit well with shelf re-stocking regimes. Supermarket retail shelving is around 2ft deep, depending on the outlet - so six bottles is a natural re-stocking quantity on all save the fastest movers.

From a manual handling standpoint, wooden cases with twelve bottles are a little too heavy, whilst cardboard cartons with six bottles are a bit light - 12 bottle cardboard is heavy-ish, but not a major issue. Given six pack cardboard cartons, many employees will tend to carry two at a time, although that can throw up ergonomic issues.

Where is this leading me? For the mass market retail outlets, six packs are probably here to stay; but for the more rarified air of the quality wine market, where many wines are offered in both six or twelve pack wooden cases (and sometimes three as well) there seems a logical way forward (although it probably won't happen..)

- Why not pack in quantities of eight and four instead of twelve and six?

A wooden case of eight bottles will be a comfortable weight to handle, while a case of four will suit those with less deep pockets, or less storage space..

[Eric Menchen]

For fast moving things that will be sold on the shelves as singles, I can see using cardboard twelves. This is different from VP for a collector in an OWC, for which I would prefer a six. Four or eight? Hmmm. I don't see much space efficiency in a four, but I guess you get a slight bit of alternation. I do have some OWC three-packs. They are more of novelty things with three different bottles, like a horizontal of Australian ports from the same year made with different varietals, varied SQN stickies ... and they aren't space efficient at all and don't stack well.

[Tom Archer]

and they aren't space efficient at all and don't stack well.

Both important considerations!

A wooden eight pack, based on the cases used for claret, but one third shorter; would be space efficient, ergonomic, and stack safely. A four pack could have the same footprint, but only half the height, so they could be easily mix stacked.

However, it would be a nightmare if some producers went down this road and others didn't..

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

I full agree with your assessment.



Tom,

I also agree with you, except on the point of four and packs. In fact, you explained succinctly, exactly my point when I brought up the difference in shipping cost. The size differential of the OWC between a 6-pack and 12-pack and weight as well, all configure to a very different "cube" size and weight when palletizing Port (or wine) for shipping, in containers. That apparently was lost on my compadre. But you've hit the nail right on the head.

[Andrew E]

It would certainly make it easier on us VP Newbs

[Roel B]

Are you seeing more and more 6-packs now, as compared to previous years?
[/quote]

No, I guess not. 6-bottle cases have been around for a long time, at least as fas as port goes. I have wooden 6-bottle cases of vintage port going back to the 80's. And looking throught the catalog of a fine wine trading house I see 6-bottle cases going back to the 70's (a case of 77 Dow's for example).

I've crunched a few numbers in that same catalog (Fine+Rare in the UK). It's an Excel sheet and the case size is listed. They have around 19000 12 bottle cases and 4500 6 bottle cases in their catalog. Looking at the vintages and regions, I can't say that I see a trend towards more 6 bottle cases in recent vintages. The distribution of 6 bottle cases and that of 12 bottle cases in their catalog throughout the vintages is almost equivalent.

As far as cartons go, 6 bottles seem to be the norm. I have seen some 12-bottle cartons however, most notably at an italian wine importer, but as far back as I can remember most cartons have always been 6-packs.

Roel.

[Rob C.]

And looking throught the catalog of a fine wine trading house I see 6-bottle cases going back to the 70's (a case of 77 Dow's for example).

Roel - don't forget that the older F&R 6-bottle cases are recent ex-cellar releases as well as original/en-primeur releases.

Nowadays most UK retailers seem to offer port by the 6-pack - in fact, i can't remember the last time i received a promo email offering a 12-pack as opposed to 6-pack - though full cases of 12 still seem to be available for most things if you look around.

With Bordeaux/Rhone nowadays there is even more flexibility - in the UK market there seems to be a choice between 6 and 12 packs for almost all wines (or at least the more expensive (eg: £25GBP+ per bottle) ones).

[Roel B]

With Bordeaux/Rhone nowadays there is even more flexibility - in the UK market there seems to be a choice between 6 and 12 packs for almost all wines (or at least the more expensive (eg: £25GBP+ per bottle) ones)

We don't see that on this side of the channel. The en-primeur list for Bordeaux 2011 from my local winetrader almost exclusively lists 12-bottle cases. The only two exceptions are Château Pontet-Canet and Cos d'Estournel for which 6-bottle cases are listed (but only 6, not 12).

Roel.

[Ronald Wortel]

We don't see anything other than sixpacks on the Dutch markets. I don't think the 12 bottle cases are even sold there anymore.

12 bottle cases are still quite widespread on our side of the channel. Especially when ordering new vintages.
For Port, but also for example for Bordeaux. I was just happening to look through the Bordeaux 2011 pre-order
lists today, and all chateau's are still offering 12-bottle cases.

Also, for the most recent (2009) Vintage Port's, a number of houses had 12-bottle cases listed as packaging
unit on the pre-order lists at my local supplier. I only bought a (6 bottle) case of Niepoort in pre-order this
year, but afaik 12 bottle cases are still the norm for most other houses.

Roel.

I was referring to Port, not Bordeaux. When retailers offer their ports x12, my experience has been that they mostly deliver 2x6. If they do still offer the 12-packs, those are usually sourced on the "parralel-market" (eg. UK), not through the Dutch importers. But things can always have changed in recent years of course...