Helix bottle-cork combination wins major packaging award

The Institute of Packaging SA (IPSA) Gold Pack Awards is an annual competition that recognises the finest examples of packaging excellence and towards the end of last year, manufacturer Consol Glass won with Helix – this innovative product honoured with two Gold medals: Best in Beverage and Best in Glass (Substrate Excellence Awards).

Helix is a twist-to-open, ergonomically-designed cork agglomerate stopper, used with a glass bottle that has corresponding grooves – an internal thread finish – to ensure an airtight seal. It’s the result of a four-year development process involving cork producer Amorim and leading US glass manufacturer Owens-Illinois (O-I).

What is remarkable about the Helix design is that it combines the best of both worlds. The premium image of traditional cork with the convenience of a screw top closure. In addition, the wine opening ritual is preserved. The quintessential pop of uncorking a bottle is a big part of the wine drinking experience, something which is lost in the case of wines closed with a screw cap. The Helix twist-to-open action keeps the pop, being both practical and ensuring premium appeal. Global consumer research shows that 83% of wine consumers under 45 are interested in Helix with 68% interested wine buyers willing to pay more.

Locally, Anthonij Rupert Wyne is the first wine producer to convert to the Helix closure and all eight of the wines in its Protea range are now bottled in Consol’s 750ml glass bottles that make use of the twist out cork solution. For this winery, upcycling is of particular importance and one of the many benefits associated with the Helix closure is that it adds to the concept of sustainability and encourages reuse of bottles. The Helix closure, combined with the Mark Eisen Protea designs that adorn each bottle, contributes to their aesthetic appeal and lends them an assortment of alternate uses within the home.