DURING November, founder Corinne Horn announces, the team will swing open the doors on a sparkling new facility in Bellville, Cape Town. Here, the company will elevate business relationships with its many loyal, longstanding southern customers, providing service that is a crystal clear reflection of that perfected over decades at Glass Decorations in Johannesburg. Cape wineries, craft beer brewers and spirits entrepreneurs are no strangers to the concept, but will now enjoy it right on their cellar or distillery doorstep.
Feat of clay
Glass Decorations is one of the largest specialised decorators of glass bottles and similar containers in the southern hemisphere. It started as an eight-person operation in Springs and now employs around 150 people at a 40 000m² facility in Clayville, Johannesburg.
Extensive research combined with creative flair have taken the company to magnum opus status in glass bottle circles, through its extensive colour coating, decorating, foiling, specialised screen printing and sleeve application expertise.
Should you spot an attention-grabbing finish transforming a clear glass bottle to objet d’art on the store shelf, chances are it was the handiwork of Glass Deco and possibly perhaps a previous Gold Pack or World Star Award winner. Think Smirnoff, Amarula, Jack Black, Mainstay, Protea Wines and All Gold, to name just a handful.
Many other leading brands step out in Glass Deco apparel, including Monis, Russian Bear and Carvo. Cosmetics and fragrances are also growing markets, with pharmaceuticals and food catching on fast.
Cape creativity and vibe
The mountain’s much-vaunted power to make everything appear a little shinier, brighter and more innovative, and the inspiration of working in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, will be the perfect backdrop for the company’s decorating mastery. ‘The city supports a huge array of innovative businesses that, such as ours, focus on packaging that strives to be a cut above the rest,’ Corinne remarks. ‘With a port close by it offers customers a convenient gateway to the international market, where their magnificent products are more than ready to take on the best.
‘As the second main economic centre of South Africa, some of Cape Town’s largest manufacturing sub-sectors include food and beverages, which with personal care and wine, are the backbone of our portfolio,’ she reports.
‘The impetus to take the plunge into a new province was driven largely by the opportunity to support our customers and provide our service where glass is abundant. Artisanal spirits, particularly, are taking off, with rums and vodkas keen to go the route of gin. Servicing niche markets such as these will expand our business by about 30%.’
The new site, Corinne continues, will eventually offer all the value-add services available in Gauteng, while administration will stay in Johannesburg, thus avoiding expensive duplication of infrastructure and skills. ‘Offering customers both north and south full packaging facilities will allow them to make the most informed commercial decisions for better cost to market,’ she stresses.
Customers share the ‘gees’
John Sutherland, financial director of Anthonij Rupert Wyne, can’t speak highly enough of the creativity of the Protea wines look, which, he says, reflects not only great attention to detail, but the principles of environment-consciousness and upcycling. Corinne and team have been on board from the early days and take care of the eight brand designs currently in use.
‘Their high-standard work is synonymous with the quality consumers expect of our products and ensures the longevity of the upcycled product,’ John comments. ‘We value their expert guidance and problem solving. Delivery is always on time and to the right specifications, which is vital to our production process.’
Each bottle in the Protea range is decorated with a bespoke pattern inspired by the Cape, making the bottle, like the wine, a work of art, he adds.
Design originator, Mark Eisen, matches John’s enthusiasm, saying: ‘I visualise someone about to put a Protea bottle in the recycling bin and deciding instead to keep it as a decoration, or as a water, iced tea or olive oil container.
‘I love the idea that we might inspire in people that new way of thinking.’
According to Paul Curnow, deputy group CEO of Consol, which has enjoyed a long partnership with Glass Deco based fundamentally on the quest for innovation and unique customer offerings: ‘The company is very responsive and always ready to push the boundaries, solve problems and try new things.
‘Value add decorating allows glass to take on an extra layer of differentiation, allowing our customers to take the standard Consol bottle into new market space or further accentuate aspects of the products to create something special and premium.
‘We look forward to expanding our relationship in the value-add space and are happy to have a southern site on hand to support the fast-growing premium markets in the Cape,’ he remarks.
Corinne first met with KWV 25 years ago over a bottle of the then-newly-upgraded KWV 20-year-old brandy and, says new packaging development manager Johan Marais, the lives of the two companies have been intertwined ever since. ‘Glass Deco has always helped us with our premium product portfolio and ensured that we stay at the forefront of packaging trends and consumer needs,’ he elaborates. ‘We use many of the company’s techniques, including high stoving, coating of bottles and premium foil applications onto glass.
‘No challenge is too daunting, suggestions are willingly accepted and customer service is always on point, enabling us to stand out in a very competitive market.
‘The new Cape Town plant will be of great benefit to us and to the entire liquor industry in the Western Cape.’
Another customer looking forward to visiting Bellville is Antonio Gouveia of African Cellar Suppliers, who has worked with the Glass Deco bottle buffs for more than a decade, starting with a project for KWV and progressing to a series of collaborations to invigorate several well-known brands’ market presence.
‘Our first meeting in Johannesburg was impressive,’ Antonio recalls. ‘The boardroom line-up of projects past and present indicated the depth of innovation in the company. Designs that had scored international accolades were further proof of the team’s skill and the complexity that it achieves.
‘Glass Deco is flexible in its approach and works with us and the customer to achieve practical solutions.
‘Team members are proactive in identifying problems. When a snag arises, they work closely with us to overcome it.
‘We look forward to generating many more premium products into the future, particularly now that they are so close,’ Antonio enthuses.
Babylonstoren’s winemaker Klaas Stoffberg is equally enthusiastic, having enjoyed a six-year relationship to date with Glass Deco.
When one sees the distinctive pipe (representing the farmer), flower (garden) and bird (nature) logo on a bottle of wine, know that it got there with ‘quality and precision’ backed by ‘good communication and thorough follow-through’, the service attributes cited by Klaas as most important to the estate. ‘Our primary objective is that the final product achieves the standards that we are committed to providing to our customers,’ he adds. ‘So far so good.’
"Bellville is our gift to the many loyal Cape customers who have supported us for 25 years and who have become lead characters in our story. You asked and we have listened. Now we look forward to partnering with you at home to create many more years’ worth of beautiful, top-quality containers.”
Similar heart, heightened technology
Glass Deco Bellville will ultimately be a mirror image of the Clayville operation, with similar resources, but greater automation befitting a new era of technology, says Corinne.
‘It will take shape gradually and thoughtfully,’ she explains. ‘Initially it will be a support production facility, with customer care provided from Joburg. Different sections of the business will then be phased in over time to create a fully-fledged, standalone operation.
‘We envisage a 4 000m² under roof facility that will create many jobs in the local community. As happened in Gauteng, staff will receive intensive on-the-job training in this specialised environment. The culture, as with Clayville, will be “anything is possible and innovation is everything”.
‘Cape customers will be assured of the familiar creativity, high standards and product quality, but benefit from transport and logistics cost savings. There will be exciting, new opportunities, with the time and space to explore them fully,’ she concludes.
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