Glass Packaging Institute (GPI) President Scott DeFife addressed the glass shortage myth at the recent Unified Wine and Grape Symposium in California, USA.
At the event, Mr DeFife spoke of the US’s glass production and the domestic supply chain, highlighting the sustainability of wine in glass and disproving claims of a glass shortage.
Mr DeFife said: “A glass shortage is not an accurate description of the current state of the market. We understand some end-market customers may have issues with getting bottle stock, but that is not a glass shortage.
Container glass is caught up in the same larger, international logistics backlog affecting multiple industries across the United States. Domestic glass suppliers have not run out of excess inventory, nor are there any shortage of raw materials to make glass.
All materials needed to manufacture glass in North America can be sourced in North America. The US shipped out to customers from domestic glass plants 1.5 billion wine bottles through the third quarter of 2021. This represents a continued stability in U.S. wine shipments to customers.”
Mr DeFife also said that the industry was working towards making glass an even more sustainable packaging material through research into lighter weight bottles and new manufacturing techniques.
He further stated that 88% of consumers choose to buy wine in glass, making it the preferred choice for packaging. Additional benefits of wine packaged in glass can be found here.
For full presentation see here.
