How are supply-chain disruptions affecting the wine trade?

[Victor_Hong]

How about aluminum cans or plastic bottles? They seem readily available, and are recyclable.

I heard the big beer companies bought everything out so all the medium to small producers couldn’t get any.

Not that it’s remotely relevant for bottling high-end cask strength whisky.

Why not? Stores offer plastic containers of 91% alcohol, with no apparent problems. Indeed, they were selling like high-end hotcakes, last year.

[Eric_Sch]

I for one would love to crack open a nice cold 12 ouncer of 115 proof aged whiskey. One is all you need!

[Adam_Frisch]

1. Yes, bottle shortage continues. Most vendors have no stock. Our if they have, it’s crazy priced. Trincor had a Hock glass for me, but at $23/case! That’s about 3x as much as they normally cost and it wasn’t even a fancy mold. I finally found some from another vendor, but after having gone through pretty much every single vendor I’d been recommended.

2. I switched to Diam this year, and didn’t experience any delays from Gallo on that. So that’s good. But I think the actual corks are made in Europe, so I don’t think they’re immune to transportation problems.

3. Gallo Glass produces glass in the US from recycled glass, so if things continue, they might be a good option to go for if transportation issues continues. Problem is they don’t do certain molds, like cork and Hock or cork and Flint glass etc, so you’re limited.

4. My printer is experiencing paper logistic problems and shortages. Most high end paper for labels etc comes from Europe on big rolls, and gets slit up/cut up here in the US. Many of the “slitting places” here have had staff shortages due to Covid, so even though the rolls might have been in a container on US soil, there’s nobody to process it.

As a general thought on the future of packaging, we should all move to bag-in-box eventually. The US is very behind on the high end, premium BiB. It’s a thing in quite a few markets in Europe now. There you can often find smaller premium BiB’s that only contain 1-1.5L. I get it that they might not be as good for aging, but for most sub $50 wines meant to be drunk within a few years, they’d be perfect. Much better for the wine, much better to ship, much more space efficient, much more environmental, etc etc. Eventually every market will get to that, but here in the US there’s a stigma still attached and that takes time to break down.

[lleichtman]

In addition to delays and skyrocketing prices of refrigerated containers from Japan (sake), we’re experiencing reports of bottle, capsule and closure shortages as we try and put together a new whisky line offering. What we thought was locked in for bottles on a first run this fall or winter may not be available in sufficient quantity, which means changes to almost every other aspect from labels to closures has to change. It’s very frustrating.

Checked with one of our shippers yesterday. Expect 3-6 week delay for Sake delivery. It will start impacting our local supply and that is going to impact our sales. Already my partner Eric is having trouble supplying the local stores which buy from him.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

In addition to delays and skyrocketing prices of refrigerated containers from Japan (sake), we’re experiencing reports of bottle, capsule and closure shortages as we try and put together a new whisky line offering. What we thought was locked in for bottles on a first run this fall or winter may not be available in sufficient quantity, which means changes to almost every other aspect from labels to closures has to change. It’s very frustrating.

Checked with one of our shippers yesterday. Expect 3-6 week delay for Sake delivery. It will start impacting our local supply and that is going to impact our sales. Already my partner Eric is having trouble supplying the local stores which buy from him.

Our container did eventually make it in, so we finally have bottles on hand and it’s selling like crazy, as restaurants are hungry for product. But we’re dreading the next round.

[Arv_R]

As a general thought on the future of packaging, we should all move to bag-in-box eventually. The US is very behind on the high end, premium BiB. It’s a thing in quite a few markets in Europe now. There you can often find smaller premium BiB’s that only contain 1-1.5L. I get it that they might not be as good for aging, but for most sub $50 wines meant to be drunk within a few years, they’d be perfect. Much better for the wine, much better to ship, much more space efficient, much more environmental, etc etc. Eventually every market will get to that, but here in the US there’s a stigma still attached and that takes time to break down.

This might be something Costco could do for their proprietary imports. The consumer trust is there for Kirkland Signature, and given that those are unlikely to be cellared for decades, or poured in situations where the ‘glory of the label’ is being flaunted, it might be a place to start. I’d take a shot if they could bag up a 1.5L Gigondas for $22 or something.

[Mel_Knox]

An all-time high of 56 cargo ships are stuck waiting off the California...

I googled ship[ping delays west coast and this is the first one that popped up

[Kris_Patten]

I can tell you from distributor side…

DI containers going from 70 to 150+ days, understaffed ports, lack of drivers, lack of trailers, holding fees for containers in port I would take today but they cannot process.

From supply side, lots of liquid but no glass, or closures, especially on specialty cast bottles like Woodford Double Oak, so liquid rests in tanks til glass can be sourced.

[Victor_Hong]

In addition to delays and skyrocketing prices of refrigerated containers from Japan (sake), we’re experiencing reports of bottle, capsule and closure shortages as we try and put together a new whisky line offering. What we thought was locked in for bottles on a first run this fall or winter may not be available in sufficient quantity, which means changes to almost every other aspect from labels to closures has to change. It’s very frustrating.

Plan B?

[John_Morris]

The Wall Street Journal has a good update on the situation. Seems like a combination of (a) a surge in imports to make up for inventories drawn down last year that has strained oceanic shipping, (b) a shortage of truck drivers in the ports and transloading sites in the US (e.g., rail to truck) and (c) port operators who don’t want to pay overtime to move containers on Saturday (LA/Long Beach doesn’t operate on Sundays). The port operators say there’s no point working weekends to offload ships when 30% of the trucks don’t show up on time to take containers away.

[Michael_Baryla]

Truckers were notoriously unreliable before all this hit. Now getting a truck is next to impossible and they know they hold the upper hand.

Had a truck delivery that required special rigging to unload a few weeks ago. Driver BEGGED that we have a crew there at 7am to unload as he had to get to his next stop. No problem. Riggers are there at 7. Trucker shows up at 2:30pm and is confused as to why I would be upset. Mind you I am paying the riggers more than a grand an hour to pick their noses.

[Nola_Palomar]

Abysmal for an import business.
It is extremely difficult to plan for your cost of good sold from one shipment to the next when everything doubles, triples or more in price.