Winegrowers face shortage of glass bottles

• Due to the war in Ukraine, several Ukrainian branches of glass giants Owens and Verallia have temporarily halted production.

  A phenomenon that adds to the delay accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic.

• In France, winegrowers are facing an increase in the price of glass and delays in delivery, and are finding it increasingly difficult to supply themselves with bottles.

• And the solutions to overcome this shortage remain insufficient.

The vats of French winegrowers could remain filled longer than expected.

Due to a shortage of glass bottles, the latter are struggling to obtain supplies for the bottling of their production, and therefore their marketing.

How are they impacted?

takes stock.

Ukrainian factories shut down

Glass (and it is far from the only one) has not been spared by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“A good number of glassmakers have reduced their production rate” during the crisis, indicates Jean-Marie Fabre, winegrower in Aude and president of the Federation of Independent Winegrowers.

“The factories have always built up a stock of bottles, which they drew on during the pandemic.

And when demand picked up, the difficulty was to produce in sufficient quantity knowing that the stock which had decreased”.

Despite a tense flow, the orders placed by the winegrowers were nevertheless delivered on date, "2 or 3 months before bottling", according to the president of the federation.

But then, why such a shortage now?

There is, first of all, the war in Ukraine, which caused the stoppage of production at seven Ukrainian factories, subsidiaries of the two glass giants, Owens and Verallia.

Between them, these groups produce approximately “75% of the glass bottles in circulation on the European market”, and “more than half of world production”, according to Jean-Marie Fabre.

Another difficulty: the increase in the cost of gas and oil, necessary to run the ovens.

A cost that is reflected in the purchase price of empty bottles.

Contacted by

, the president of the Federation of Glass Industries did not respond to our request for an interview.

Soaring prices

For winegrowers, the impact is strong.

“Before, it took 15 days for delivery,” explains Thierry Mothe, winemaker in Chablis.

Now it takes 8 weeks.

The price has risen by 25 to 50% since the start of the year.

Tensions which would also be linked, according to Jean-Marie Fabre, to over-orders placed by traders, "10 to 15% more than usual", to anticipate the shortage.

A phenomenon that would aggravate the shortage for family VSEs, producers of more than half of French wine.

Another problem: the increase in the price of cardboard, labels, back labels, paper and capsules, of the order of 25 to 50%.

For all these reasons, winegrowers sell “between 7 and 10% more expensive to distributors and importers”, adds Jean-Marie Fabre.

But that is not enough.

Employees, depreciation cost, suppliers… the costs remain the same.

"For now I'm doing, but in August-September, I will begin to feel the impact on cash," says Thierry Mothe.

timid solutions

And then ?

"Every fortnight, glass prices are rising," says Jean-Marie Fabre.

It is therefore difficult to have visibility.

So are there any alternatives?

When these winemakers are asked what they think of cans, their reaction is the same.

“Can you imagine someone bringing you a can when you order a bottle of white wine in a restaurant?

asks Thierry Mothe.

“And adopting cans would come down to the same problem, since it would be necessary to produce huge quantities of them, knowing the tension that weighs on raw materials, in particular aluminum,” remarks Jean-Marie Fabre.

The solutions are currently timid.

“We try to call as many suppliers and their distributors as possible to see if they still have a pallet in stock.

Or our fellow winegrowers to see if they don't have 4 or 5 rows of bottles left.

Sometimes we even buy bottles that are not suited to our packaging.”

On the other hand, there is no question of recycling bottles in their eyes.

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• Economy

• Winegrowers

• War in Ukraine

• Inflation

• Glass