4 Mar 2010 --- One of the largest wine producers in the Italian Veneto region, Cielo e Terra is demonstrating its commitment to the environment and strong sense of social responsibility with the re-packaging of two of its most popular brands of wine. Its Freschello and Cielo table wine ranges are now bottled in lightweight Lean+Green glass packaging from O-I. In addition, for each bottle of wine sold, Cielo e Terra will make a donation to a charity bringing safe water to the poverty-stricken areas of Sierra Leone.

Part of the Gruppo Cantine dei Colli Berici sca (the Colli Berici Group of Cellars), Cielo e Terra is the leading producer of wines bottled in 750cl bottles for the Italian retail market – including its bestseller Freschello – thanks to a careful marketing mix of quality, price, packaging and service.

Most of Cielo e Terra’s wines are produced from grapes cultivated within a 30km range – in a 3,000 hectare area owned by the Cantine Cooperative dei Colli Berici (Cooperative Cellars of Colli Berici). By closely monitoring its supply chain, the company strives to continually improve the high quality of its wines, and this commitment to quality is closely linked to its desire to promote and safeguard the local area, and to find manufacturing solutions that respect and protect the environment.

For this reason, glass has always been the company’s preferred packaging choice for the Freschello and Cielo ranges. When O-I launched its Lean+Green (L+G) range of lightweight bottles – which have all the distinctive characteristics of the Bordeaux shape but weigh only 345grams – the decision to re-package its brands in the new containers was an obvious one for Cielo e Terra. In terms of its environmental footprint, including CO2 emissions, this new glass bottle not only uses more than 90% recycled glass content, but is also amongst the “best in class” according to WRAP (the UK’s Waste & Resources Action Programme), even when compared to alternative packaging materials.

O-I has pioneered the use of narrow neck press and blow (NNPB) technology to enable the manufacture of the long-neck glass bottle shapes, which are up to 33% lighter than standard bottles. The process allows a more optimal control and even distribution of the glass in the moulds, which means that less energy is used in the manufacturing process. The BD ECO L+G bottle retains all the inherent functional properties of a standard bottle (compact structure, transparency and inertia), as well as the familiar, elegant shape that makes it an attractive addition at the table and a pleasure to pour. Of course once the wine has been finished, consumers can rest assured that by recycling the bottle, it will quickly become a new bottle once again.

By choosing Lean + Green glass for its two most popular brands of wine, Cielo e Terra is demonstrating a social and environmental responsibility that has become an important part of the company’s philosophy. Giving it an even broader significance, the re-packaging project is being combined with an initiative in the poor rural regions of Sierra Leone in Africa. For each bottle of wine sold, Cielo e Terra will make a donation to ENGIM Internazionale - an NGO operating in some of the world’s poorest developing nations – for its well-building project in Sierra Leone.

Pierpaolo Cielo, marketing manager of Cielo e Terra, explains: “Water is the precious natural element that enables our grapevines to flourish. This is why we have chosen to express our social responsibility by helping to give villages in Sierra Leone the opportunity to enjoy better access to water. This initiative has been made possible both by the collaboration of O-I, who with its BD ECO L+G glass bottles has enabled us to improve our cost efficiency and reduce environmental impact, and by ENGIM Internazionale, and their daily work meeting the basic needs of poor areas around the world.”

Benoît Villaret, wine marketing manager of O-I Europe, says: “The innovation that we offer not only respects the environment, but also enhances the heritage of the shapes which have come to characterize wines from different regions for many decades. Consumers will be able to appreciate their preferred wines in elegant glass bottles which safeguard the full taste and aroma of the wines, with the reassurance that their choice is also good for the environment and, in the case of Cielo e Terra wines, will be helping others less fortunate as well.”