Indevin is a contract wine-making facility, meaning that they produce wine for the retailer’s own label supply or exclusive brands. They are partnered with brands such as Gallo (USA), Waitrose (UK) and Tesco (UK). For example, they produce a Marlborough Sauvignon blanc for ‘Tesco Finest’, ‘Cowrie Bay’ for Waitrose UK, and ‘TeHua Valley’ for Wineworld Norway.
Indevin exports their wine using flexi-containers (see image below), this involves filling a flexi-bladder (made up of multiple layers of Polyethylene) which is installed into a container.
At Indevin, these flexi-bladders will hold 24,000L of wine. Specific containers are used, called ‘flexi-grade containers’, in order to be deemed ‘flexi-grade’ the surface of the container has to be smooth, without any bulges or sharp points. Any uneven surface could potentially puncture the flexi bladder inside the container. The containers are a standard 6.25m and have a valve at bottom for filling.
The process:
- A flexi-grade container will be dropped off to Indevin.
- At Indevin they have 7 spaces for these containers in their main dispatch pad.
- The Flexi-bladders hold 24,000 L of wine, it takes approximately 1 hour to fill 1 Flexi-Bladder.
- The Flexi-containers are held up on bison weights. Once 24,000L has flowed into the flexi-bladder the flowmeter will automatically switch off. To ensure the appropriate amount has gone into flexi-bladder it will be double checked using the bison weights and taking a dip.
- Indevin dispatch on average 35-40 flexi-containers per week
- All of Indevin Wine is Cold/Heat Stabilised, Cross-Flow Filtered, and Sterile Membrane Filtered prior to bulk dispatch. This ensures the wine will stay stable through it’s export journey (as Flexi containers are not temperature controlled), and prevent any spoilage due to bacteria/microorganisms.
- The wine is tested in the lab using a PCR (Polyamerase Chain Reaction) machine to ensure there are no yeasts and other potential microorganisms are in the wine that could cause spoilage during the export process.
- In the main dispatch pad there are the Membrane Filtration Systems, these filters will filter the wine down to 0.45 micron- also known as Sterile Membrane Filtration, ensuring that all bacteria or microorganisms commonly seen in wine will be removed- preventing the risk of spoilage during the export process. The wine is membrane filtered just prior to the filling of the flexi-bladder.
- Indevin keep retention samples.
- Indevin will organise the distribution, and through various contacts using different inco-terms. This could be X-winery, FOB (Free on board), DAP (Delivered at Place)
Advantages:
- Exporting through bulk dispatch results in less temperature variation of wine during export due to the larger volume.
- Bulk dispatching wine extends the wine’s shelf-life as once wine is bottled it starts to deteriorate. The bulk dispatch delays the bottling process, Indevin primarily exports Sauvignon blanc which is not made for bottle aging or maturing.
- Cost Effective: Container holds 10,584 litres of bottled wine, compared to 24,000 litres of wine in a flexi, thus reducing the cost of transportation.
- Environmentally Friendly: In comparison to bottled wine a flexi-tank has a reduced weight and increased amount of wine thus reduces the carbon footprint