
A new way to package your wine shipments comes straight from the lab—the FedEx Packaging Lab, that is.
The new packaging in question is product development that was at the behest of Otter—a FedEx customer—known for water-and-shock-resistant electronics accessories.
Otter has a brand called Liviri that, for example, offers specialized shipping containers for perishable food, and the company says it wanted to develop something to keep wine bottles consistently cool, to help keep up with the surge in direct-to-consumer shipping, which according to a DtC report by SOVOS, increased 27 percent last year.
The result from the lash-up with the FedEx lab is the Liviri Vino Box, that the company says is equipped with vacuum insulated panels that allow wine to stay cool even during the hotter summer months. Wine needs to stay between 35 and 75 degrees to prevent spoilage, so not as many bottles typically ship during summer and winter.
The Vino Box has also been battle-tested in the FedEx lab for shock resistance due to the inevitable dropping of shipments, along with a special design for the wine bottle inserts to ensure they stay put during shipping and handling.
Liviri also stakes a sustainability claim with the Vino Box, citing the pandemic-induced spike for last-mile deliveries as an environmental concern, which tends to include single-use cardboard and Styrofoam for wine orders. Liviri says its Vino Box is scalable, and reusable.
The Liviri Vino boxes can either be purchased, or leased, the company says. Wineries can ship the box with a return label and the consumer can schedule a FedEx pickup or can drop it off at a FedEx location.