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Cutting through the clutter

This Chicago-based company left no stone unturned in its quest for perfect packaging. Spare-no-expense shippers in two sizes and custom primary packaging mark the debut of this premium vodka.

Screen-printed with organic inks that are cured in a lehr at 350?F, the bottle's decoration makes a strong statement.
Screen-printed with organic inks that are cured in a lehr at 350?F, the bottle's decoration makes a strong statement.

Convinced that its unique new vodka required equally impressive packaging, 3 Vodka Distilling Co. developed a 750-mL glass bottle emblazoned with a bright red 3 that is something of a departure in decorating technology. According to Brian Berish, managing partner of the Chicago-based firm, the only way to achieve a red in this precise hue is to screen-print with organic inks that are subsequently cured in a lehr. Closely resembling applied ceramic labeling, this technique has been used for other products, notably cosmetics. But this is believed to be the first application in the wine and spirits sector.

Further touches of innovation include unconventional embossing in the bottle’s punt (base area), a patent-applied-for closure, and litho-laminated corrugated shippers with high-impact graphics and die-cuts that mimic the bottle’s unusual cap. Working with 3 Vodka on package design was Wencel/Hess Design (Chicago, IL).

As for the vodka itself, its taste is enhanced by soy isolates. According to Brian Berish, this marks the first time that soy has been distilled. Combined with select grains through a painstaking distillation process, the soy isolates give the vodka a smoothness and taste unrivaled in the category, claims Brian Berish. That’s why no ordinary packaging could possibly do.

“The premium vodka category, though crowded, is doing well,” says Brian Berish. “But from a packaging standpoint, it seems like everyone in the category is in a race to see who can develop an even taller and frostier bottle than the tall, frosty bottle introduced last month. There are too many me-too approaches.”

Through packaging distributor Saxco (Horsham, PA), Brian Berish and his fellow managing partners, brothers Barry and Brett, found a glass bottle that could cut through the clutter. Custom made in Italy by Vetri Speciali, the bottle is, as Brett Berish puts it, “not short, not tall, not fat, not thin. And it has a clarity that is unmatched. We knew what we wanted and Saxco helped us find it.”

Embossed 3s

Further distinguishing the flint bottle are two embossed 3s, one on the back just below the threads and the other on the punt.

“The glass company initially said the embossing on the punt couldn’t be done because the punt typically isn’t so horizontally oriented,” says Brian Berish. “But we really wanted that embossed 3 on the bottom of the bottle. To make that happen, we pressed for a punt that was primarily flat rather than concave like a wine bottle.”

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New e-book on Flexible Packaging