Scholle boosts presence in European boxed wine

Related tags Flexible packaging

US-based Scholle has acquired all of the shares of Flextainer,
aFrench packaging company. The move is expected to increase
Scholle's presence in the European boxed-wine packaging category.

The business will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Scholle Corporation and continue totrade as Flextainer at its headquarters in Schalbach, near Strasbourg, France. Flextainerspecialises in the development and manufacture of systems and accessories for liquidpackaging, particularly in the wine industry.

Among its many accomplishments are thefirst automated system to insert plastic handles in wine cartons, development of severalof the world's most popular wine box taps, and the commercialisation of a revolutionaryform-seal-fill technology for bag making, filling and carton loading.

Scholle​ is headquartered in Irvine, California. It pioneered andstill is a major global provider of bag-in-box packaging solutions for food, beverageand industrial products. Scholle Packaging manufactures in thirteen locations in sevencountries and supplies its flexible packaging products and equipment throughout theworld.

The company now employs over 2,000 staff world-wide and supplies diverse packaging products such as bag-in-box packaging, metallized plastics and paper to markets that include North and Latin America, Asia Pacific and Europe.

In Europe the company already has five manufacturing sites: one in The Netherlands, three in the UK together with the Strasbourg facility.

According to Leon Gianneschi, president of Scholle Packaging, "Scholle and Flextainer had developed a strong relationship over the course of the last five years as we worked together to develop and commercialize the FlexTap Dispensing Tap. This acquisition supports Scholle's ongoing commitment to bring our customers the very best flexible packaging solutions."

Gianneschi added his belief that the acquisition supports Scholle's ongoing commitment to extend its flexible packaging solutions on an international basis.

Although boxed wine has suffered from an association with cheaper wines, it is continuing to grow in popularity, and is increasingly being used to package quality wines. In Australia the majority of wine sold continues to be packaged in boxes. In the Scandinavian market, boxed wine also carves out a considerable niche, with boxed wine in Norway accounting for 40 per cent of all wine packaging in 2002.

Related topics R&D Beer, Wine, Spirits, Cider

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