World's first KHS canning line for wine, sparkling wine and mixed wine beverages

Ferdinand Schmitt*

Weinkellerei Peter Mertes is today Germany's largest wine business and at the same time the most important German wine exporter. This is no coincidence. Smart management, early and consistent orientation of sales activities to meet trade requirements, a continuous readiness to innovate, and major commitment to all activities have set the company on the road to success. The winery has been a pioneer on many occasions. For example, in the middle of the 1960s, it was one of the first wine cellars to supply the then newly created C & C markets and to make wine available in boxes instead of in conventional wooden crates. As discounters became increasingly important in Germany at the end of the 1970s, here too Peter Mertes very quickly made its mark. Furthermore, the company had already shown itself to be an innovator many years previously by providing wine in boxes and in small bottles. The company has now become the first winery in the world to invest in a KHS canning line. Michael Willkomm, Managing Partner of Weinkellerei Peter Mertes, says, "We monitor the development of all packaging used for wine very closely. In our opinion, there is currently a growing market for sparkling wine, wine and mixed wine beverages in cans. As always, we want to be at the forefront of activities. With our new KHS canning line, we are now well set up for quality production of these products." The winery has worked with KHS equipment since the origins of the company. "KHS has been satisfying our particularly high requirements for filling and packaging quality for many decades with robust and easy-to-use technical solutions," says Willkomm. "At the same time, KHS gains marks with us for its outstanding service at all times. Five KHS filling systems are in use in our business today. This provides the ultimate assurance that we are able to meet our delivery commitments, which is so important for us."

*  Sales Germany, Wine, Sparkling Wine, and Spirits Systems, KHS GmbH, Bad Kreuznach, Phone: 0671/852 2515

In family ownership since 1924

The winery was founded in 1924 by Peter Mertes, the grandfather of Michael Willkomm, in the small town of Minheim an der Mosel. The Mertes family had already been involved in viticulture for many generations. This meant the best possible start for the fresh-faced company founder. Peter Mertes pursued viticulture and the wine trade and bottled small amounts of wine by hand. Son-in-law, Dr. Gustav Willkomm, joined the small company in 1947. After the death of Peter Mertes in 1953, he managed the winery together with his wife, the eldest daughter of the company founder. Sales at that time were 100,000 bottles per year. The cellar was simply set up and bottling was still carried out by hand. 

Consistent strategic orientation towards trade requirements

It is interesting to note that in the 1950s, wine consumption in Germany meant luxury, even in the wine-growing regions. At that time, a bottle of wine cost approximately as much as a worker earned in a day. In those days, the sales channels for wine were limited exclusively to specialist outlets and to the restaurant trade. The quantity of wine on the German market increased continuously in the 1950s and 1960s thanks to an expansion of the wine-growing regions, technical progress and increasing wine imports. As a result, traditional marketing options were quickly exhausted. At the same time, the industry was under enormous price pressure. As a trained lawyer, Dr. Gustav Willkomm looked for new ways of marketing wine and in doing so was fully prepared to think laterally. Just this approach ultimately stood him in good stead. By a lucky coincidence, at the beginning of the 1960s he became acquainted with Jost Hurler. Hurler was widely travelled and, in the USA, had become familiar with the success of the self-service retail trade. It was he who opened Germany's first C & C market in Munich with a floor area of 6,000 m² which was almost unimaginable at that time. And it was the Weinkellerei Peter Mertes which was the first winery to supply it with wine. When Hurler introduced the even more lucrative model of the self-service store to Germany and founded Suma in Munich, Peter Mertes wines were also on board. The same was true for the Huma markets subsequently launched by Hurler. At the beginning of the 1960s - Michael Willkomm still remembers it clearly today - Otto Beisheim, co-founder of the Metro concern, spontaneously visited the Willkomm family for lunch. The reason for this was that Beisheim had seen Hurler's C & C model and had particularly noticed the green boxes of the Weinkellerei Peter Mertes. He found out the address, drove there in his VW Beetle and talked over possible joint future strategies. The result of the visit was that the winery also became one of the first suppliers to the Metro Group. 

While, at the beginning of its success with the trade, the company still relied in parallel on supplying the classic structures of specialist outlets and restaurants, this soon became no longer feasible as a result of the high demand from the trade. This resulted in a strategic orientation towards this distribution path. At the time, colleagues in the wine industry viewed this with distrust. Particularly, as Dr. Gustav Willkomm had dismissed wine in the 1960s as being seen as a cultural highlight rather than a consumer item. At an association meeting in the middle of the 1960s, Dr. Willkomm made the statement, "wine must be made suitable for the self-service market." A phrase which made him the "enfant terrible" of the industry. 

Realignment of the distribution philosophy brings new building to Bernkastel-Kues

Along with the uncompromising specialization, a realignment of the distribution philosophy simultaneously took place at Peter Mertes. The retail food trade required wine on demand and the manufacturer to hold appropriate stocks. This had not been common in the past. In order to be able to produce and store the required large quantities of wine, in 1969 the winery purchased a 20,000 m² plot of land in Bernkastel-Kues, on which it erected a 3000 m² building. In the meantime, sales had risen to 10 million filled units. By the time Michael Willkomm took over the winery in the middle of the 1970s, the figure was 15 million filled units. Michael Willkomm continued the philosophy of his father who had died in 1973, likewise relying on the retail food trade and, in particular, on those dealers who were particularly aggressively active in the market. In the meantime, these also included the discounters. "My father taught me that the aggressive partners in the retail food trade soon absorb the less aggressive ones and therefore expand particularly quickly and consequently guarantee our wine sales," says Willkomm. "A theory which I can also confirm from today's point of view." Sales continued to grow at a great rate. In 1976, the winery constructed an additional building of 6,000 m². Today's floor area for production, warehousing and pressing is around 50,000 m². By the beginning of the 1990s, sales figures had already reached 100 million filled units.

Represented in more than 80 countries around the world

The winery first started exporting to England, Scandinavia and Holland in 1975.  "Our entry into the export market was made easier by the fact that the retail food trade is virtually the same the world over," remarks Willkomm. "As a result of our trade-oriented strategies, we therefore established the business outside Germany particularly quickly." Today, Peter Mertes supplies quality wines to more than 80 countries around the world. The most important export countries are currently the USA, Russia and the Netherlands. Particularly fast growth is to be seen most notably in Asia. Approximately 40% of all filled units are exported. In 2012, total sales amounted to 250 million filled units. 

High expectations of wine quality

While in earlier times the company obtained its wines exclusively from Mosel, Rhine, Rheingau, Pfalz and Nahe, this was soon no longer possible considering the above-mentioned level of sales. For about 20 years, the winery has been procuring wine both domestically and from abroad. "Our range includes wine from almost every country where there is a market in the retail food industry," says Willkomm. "The important thing is that our contracted vintners and suppliers adhere strictly to defined quality specifications. We always carry out stringent checks on receipt. The wine is only accepted when the laboratory and enological tests confirm the defined criteria. All wines are stored separately depending on their origin and type of grape and also marketed in this way." The trade can choose whether it prefers to approach consumers with own brands or with umbrella brands. "We do not believe in the classic wine marketed under a brand name and have therefore coined the term umbrella brand. Today, 30% of our total wine sales are realized by approximately 20 umbrella brands. The remaining 70% are accounted for by the trade's own brands. The trend is clearly towards private labels particularly outside Germany."

Unusual routes - for umbrella brands as well as own brands

Quality, flexibility and creativity paired with the courage to be different from the rest - these attributes apply both to the development of umbrella brands and to own brands. Where umbrella brand concepts are concerned, the winery has already followed a route which is entirely its own and rather unusual in the industry on several occasions. Take the umbrella brand Bree for example. On the assumption that it is mainly women who make the final decision at the wine rack, attempts were made to establish their wishes regarding wine bottle design in an unusual manner. Studies were specifically carried out in perfume shops. The umbrella brand Bree is the result of the information gathered. Here, wines made from high-quality grapes are to be found in bottle shapes which at first glance are untypical for wine - for example resembling an olive oil bottle. Bree bottles are provided with a fashionable label bearing the distinctive and carefully designed inscription 'Bree'. Trade buyers initially did not want to include Bree on their lists purely because of the bottle and label design, which were unusual for the wine industry. However, they very soon changed their minds as a result of meteoric sales. Today, 10 million filled units are accounted for by this umbrella brand, which is still increasing in popularity.  In 2009, the innovative bottle design was even distinguished with the red dot design award. Another example when it comes to the flexibility of own brands is that, if rapid development is required, designers produce labeling concepts for appellation wines in the required containers at lightning speed. "For example, if someone asks for a proposal at nine o'clock in the morning for the purchasing meeting in the early afternoon, then he will get it from as," says Willkomm. "This is our idea of service."

A pioneer when establishing new containers

It goes without saying that, for the winery, service also means providing the trade with the required products in their preferred packaging. "Classical glass bottles, cartons, bag-in-box packaging and even cans - our range includes all these containers in various sizes," says Willkomm. "Ultimately, only with such a wide variety of containers can we meet the expectations of today's multi-situation consumer.  We have already been a pioneer in the wine industry on many occasions when it comes to introducing new packaging. For example, this was the case with small glass bottles as well as with boxes. And when it comes to filling cans, we are now taking a pioneering role in the wine industry worldwide."

Wine know-how meets filling quality 

The decision in the future to provide sparkling wine, wine and mixed wine beverages in cans was made only recently. "We have seen the consumer's response to these beverages in cans and are of the opinion that now is exactly the right time to bring the can even more strongly into play from the winery's side," declares Willkomm. The background to this is that the can is highly acceptable to a multi-situation consumer for sparkling wine, wine and mixed wine beverages. However, wine products in cans which have been on the market up to now and which have been investigated by Weinkellerei Peter Mertes in its own laboratory have sometimes exhibited enormous fluctuations in quality. "Among other things, we put this down to the fact that the products are pasteurized by contract fillers," says Willkomm. "This can result in taste variations. There is then a risk that, after the initial test purchase, consumers have the impression that the taste of beverages in cans is inferior to other containers. We hope to counteract this with our wine know-how, cold-sterile filling and best KHS filling quality." 

KHS turnkey canning line quickly ordered

The order for the new canning line was initiated during a visit to the KHS plant in Bad Kreuznach. Here, Willkomm took part in a customer presentation on the new Innofill Glass filler generation. During the tour of the plant, he noticed a small can filler which was compact in design and did not take up much space. "I thought to myself, that's exactly what we need," says Willkomm. "I asked KHS straightaway for a quotation for a turnkey canning line with a capacity of 20,000 cans/h. The quotation arrived, was to our liking and we placed an order. What is more, this example also demonstrates that our flexibility and our ability to respond particularly quickly, not only to the trade but also to the supplier industry, is normal procedure."

Currently processing 0.2 and 0.25-l slimline cans

The KHS turnkey canning line today processes 0.2 and 0.25-l slimline cans. They are fed into the system on pallets where they are conveyed from the Innopal AS1H depalletizer to the pushoff level on a pallet lift down a shaft that is enclosed on three sides. Below the pushoff level, the block is centered on all sides by an additional centering bar. A pushoff frame that is enclosed on all four sides pushes the cans gently onto the container table, one layer at a time. The cover frame and pallet liners are removed by a pivoting removal device. Empty pallets are transferred to a pallet magazine provided for the purpose. The can conveyer separates the empty cans and feeds them to the can rinser via a rope conveyer. 

Innofill DVD volumetric filler - the heart of the machine

The filling system used is a volumetric, electronically controlled Innofill DVD filler with 30 filling stations. Although the filler is currently configured to handle only 0.2 and 0.25-l cans, this could well change in the future. These changes could apply to both the filling capacity and/or shape of the cans. This provides the "maximum flexibility" which is so important for Weinkellerei Peter Mertes. Particularly important for high-priced beverages such as sparkling wine, wine and mixed wine beverages is that the filling system works with high accuracy. If 0.2 liters is programmed for filling, then cans filled by the Innofill DVD will contain exactly 0.2 liters. It no longer matters whether the cans supplied by different manufacturers have exactly the same dimensions. Such a procedure is not possible with conventional level-filling systems. Here, the tolerances of the cans provided must be taken into account when selecting the filling level. Consequently, overfilling is not unusual. 

Laboratory tests confirm optimum filler results

The Innofill DVD features smooth product passages everywhere from the ring bowl to the filling valve. Aseptic membrane and sealing technology is used in all Innofill DVD filling valves and of course in all other areas exposed to the product. Prior to the actual filling process, the cans are first fed into the system, sealed, purged, and then pressurized on the Innofill DVD. Purging cans with CO2 is important in order to meet the requirements of low-oxygen filling. Once the CO2 purging and pressurization processes are complete, the liquid valve opens. Pneumatic cylinders control both the liquid valve and gas passages. The filling process takes place under pressure. When filling is complete, the pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure. Gas escapes through the snifting channel. Snifting is pressure-controlled with little foaming. "Particularly low-oxygen filling is of great importance especially for such sensitive products as wines and beverages containing wine," explains Willkomm. "This is achieved perfectly with the Innofill DVD - as our laboratory results confirm".

The Innofill DVD is monoblocked with a can seamer. After the sealing process, the cans pass through a weigher in order to check the weight of the product. Finally, the cans are turned and any condensation which has formed on the base of the cans is blown off. After drying, a coding machine applies best-before date information here. After turning again, the cans are transferred to the packer which places them in cardboard packages. "We are extremely satisfied with the performance of our new KHS turnkey canning line," says Willkomm. "However, we expected nothing less from KHS." 

Industry responses to the new canning line extremely positive

Willkomm describes the initial response of the industry to the new canning line as very positive. Comments such as "at last a winery has a canning line and is combining wine expertise with tip-top filling quality" were frequently heard. "We currently still believe that the greatest potential for the can is for sparkling wines and mixed wine beverages," says Willkomm. "However, in future, there could be an increasing demand for classical varietal wines in cans, as the consumer usually no longer concentrates on a single container but modifies the containers to suit the particular consumption situation. In the medium term, we assume that about 5% of our product will be sold in cans." 

Let the future come

Asked about future sales and turnover forecasts for Weinkellerei Peter Mertes, Willkomm replies, "Target forecasts of this kind are unreliable and banal. For us, the future means making it possible for our staff to improve their creative potential and understanding of the markets, and then working on a higher spiritual plane. Everything else will look after itself. We therefore do not need to give any thought to whether we want to achieve 300 or 500 million filled units for example."

In order to foster these skills, the company relies on art. Hanging in the offices are works by young artists who were once scholars of the Bonn Artists Guild and who were given financial assistance by the winery by way of grants in their first year after the academy. Well known in artistic circles, the Peter Mertes scholarship of the Bonn Artists Guild has now been in existence for more than 30 years. Numerous important representatives of German contemporary art were once Peter Mertes scholars. 

In the interests of a sustainable subsistence strategy, the winery promotes projects in the ecological field (operation of an in-house ecologically managed winery, sponsorship of organic farming), in economic design (20,000 square meter photovoltaic system on the roofs of the buildings, in-house water treatment, consistent separation of waste etc.) and, not least, in the social field. As many as 10 years ago, a house for the homeless was built as part of the social sustainability strategy. The association founded for this purpose is sponsored by the company.