A patent pending technology has been perfected to produce the ideal on-the-go packaging for wine. Ready to Drink Packaging inventor and marketer Gary Matsch spoke to Claire Rowan about the development of the shatterproof, stemless wine glass, which can also incorporate an additional portion of wine or a snack within the same pack.
Gary Matsch came up with the idea for the ready-to-drink packaging after seeing another such product fail to receive backing from the “sharks” on US TV show Shark Tank back in 2012.
“At the time, I was surprised the sharks were interested in the Copa Di Vino design because the container looked very small and it was filled to the rim with wine so it appeared easy to spill and impossible to swirl to let the wine breathe,” said Matsch. “The packaging just didn’t seem like an elegant way to drink wine.”
When no deal was made on the show, the mechanical engineer set about developing a more elegant solution for a single-serve packaging design that allowed for a normal-sized plastic wine glass to be filled to the halfway mark.
“I discovered that all single-serve packaging designs on the market are miniaturised so that there is minimal headspace above the single serving of wine in order to improve shelf-life. After several months of working on my design and researching the science of packaging wine, I submitted my patent application to the patent office,” said Matsch, who has perfected an outer container – a standard-sized, shaped plastic wine glass filled to the halfway mark to help prevent spilling and to allow the wine to be swirled. This outer “glass” contains a further inner container, which can be filled with snacks or a second serving of wine. When lowered into the main container during the packaging process, the inner container fills the empty space within the glass and it also displaces the wine to minimise headspace.
“Since submitting my original patent application I have submitted two further continuation in part (CIP) patent applications and a provisional patent application to cover the evolution of my design,” said Matsch, who went public with the design in August via digital medium including the launch of a dedicated website.
Already, he has been contacted by Constellation Brands and Cooper’s Hawk Brewery in the US seeking to check prototypes and locate a co-packer that could package their wine in the ready-to-go containers.
“I have also been contacted by companies in Australia, Central and South America, the UK, and Europe that are interested in using my design. My plan is to license my design to wine producers within the US and abroad,” confirmed Matsch, who is currently working with a company in the US to manufacture production representative samples that will be funded by a Kickstarter campaign.
Perfecting the conveying technology for handling the round bottomed containers has been critical to the commercialisation of the Ready to Drink pack.
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