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w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m M a y - J u n e 2 014 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 5 3 nearby Lathrop. CNP now operates 14 Tetra Pak packaging lines for a wide range of beverage products, and is the largest U.S. co-packer of wines in Tetra Pak containers (more than 3 million cases annually) for brands including Bandit by Three Thieves, Bota Box by Delicato Fam- ily Vineyards, The Little Green Box by Don Sebastiani & Sons, and CNP's own Cal Naturale wines from organically grown grapes. The only other North American co-packer of wine in Tetra Pak cartons is VinFirst Innovative Packaging in Ontario, Canada. "When developing new products with different packaging, and there are unknowns about market growth and acceptance, companies will use a co-packer when launching and growing the product," Hansen explained. With Vendange, now the market leader for wine in Tetra Pak cartons, with 70% percent mar- ket share and double-digit growth for seven consecutive years, "The (brand's) market growth reached a point where it justified the capital investment for us to buy an equip- ment line and bring the packaging operation in-house," he said. TRV still uses CNP for filling Ven- dange in 1 L Tetra Prisma cartons. Hansen said TRV's purchase of Tetra Pak equipment included parts for packaging in 1 L cartons, but a line changeover requires one week. "Right now, it doesn't make sense economically to take that much down time, since we package less than 100,000 cases of 1 L cartons, so for now, that size is still pack- aged at CNP," Hansen said. Constellation uses the Tetra Pris- ma octagonal package capped with a resealable plastic "StreamCap." Tetra Pak cartons are a laminate + Constellation Brands' Turner Road Vintners facility in Lodi, Calif., is the first U.S. winery to own and operate a Tetra Pak packaging line. + The winery's Tetra Pak A3/Flex 0400 packaging line can fill, cap and case- pack more than 75,000 cartons per day. + The Vendange brand is the market leader in Tetra Pak cartons, with double- digit growth for seven consecutive years. AT A GLANCE The Vendange wines in Tetra Pak car- tons have seen double-digit growth for seven straight years