FRANCE: Fragile glass situation leads Castel to PET

By Sophie Kevany | 7 December 2007

Castel Group has said it will look to bottle its wines in PET if the price of glass continues to rise next year.

The French wine producer has told just-drinks today (7 December) that it would make the move "if supply difficulties persist, and prices increase".

Franck Crouzet, Castel Group's communications director, described the current situation of intermittent bottle supply from the two dominant producers, Saint-Gobain and Owens-Illinois BSN, as "inadmissible".

"They are not respecting their agreements," Crouzet said. "Clients are not their priority. They have other priorities and interests."

Last month, Castel noted that the switch to PET would lead to reduced transport, storage and breakages costs, as well as less oxidation and simple recycling.

"We already have the machines, all we need is agreement from French consumers," Crouzet said.

Last year, Castel, which also owns UK drinks chains Nicolas and Oddbins, saw its wine division deliver turnover of EUR884m (US$1.29bn).

Sectors: Wine