Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/299589
5 2 V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T | M a y - J u n e 2 014 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m U.S. winery to own and operate an in-house packaging line for Tetra Pak wine cartons. Its Tetra Pak A3/ Flex 0400 line, installed in 2013, fills, caps and case-packs from 75,000 to 80,000 Tetra Prisma 500 mL cartons per day. The line is used mainly for the Vendange brand, but also supports the growing Rex Goliath and Black Box brands that are now being packaged in 500 mL Tetra Prisma. ive years ago, when packag- ing wine in aseptic containers was still a novelty in the Unit- ed States, it didn't make much sense for wineries to invest in their own packaging lines. But with Tetra Pak containers becoming more and more common, the situa- tion is changing. Constellation Brands' Turner Road Vintners (TRV) production facility in Lodi, Calif., is the first According to TRV general man- ager Dan Hansen, who has worked in production engineering for the food and beverage industry for 25 years, "This is one of the best-run- ning production lines I've seen." Wine producers more commonly use a co-packing facility for filling Tetra Pak containers. Constellation entered the Tetra Pak market with Vendange in 2004, using co-packer California Natural Products (CNP) in BY TED RIEGER, SENIOR FEATURE EDITOR Constellation Takes Tetra Pak Packaging In-House Tu rn e r R o a d f a c i l i t y f i rs t U. S. w i n e ry w i t h Te t ra P a k l i n e Photo: Ted Rieger