Brazilian wine producer Aurora Wine Cooperative has introduced a 750 ml aseptic carton format for its Sangue de Boi sweet red wine, offering an alternative to the brand’s established glass packaging.
Featured in ThePackHub’s Innovation Zone, the format is supplied by Tetra Pak and is designed to respond to changing consumption and distribution requirements with a lighter, more portable pack. The multilayer aseptic structure also separates the wine from the external environment, limiting exposure to factors that can affect its characteristics during storage.
Multilayer structure supports product protection
Tetra Pak aseptic cartons typically combine several material layers, each performing a different packaging function. Paperboard provides structural strength, while polymer layers support moisture protection and bonding. A thin aluminium barrier protects the contents from oxygen and light.
For wine, where maintaining product characteristics throughout storage and distribution is important, this combination provides an alternative packaging approach to the more conventional glass bottle.
The Sangue de Boi format retains a 750 ml capacity, keeping it aligned with a familiar wine pack size while changing the material structure and physical format presented to consumers.
Renewable materials within the carton structure
The packaging used for Sangue de Boi is reported to contain more than 70% renewable material. Its paper component is sourced from FSC-certified forests, while part of the plastic content is derived from sugarcane rather than fossil feedstocks.
These material choices should not be interpreted as meaning that the carton is entirely paper-based. The aseptic structure relies on a combination of paperboard, polymers and aluminium to provide the required structural and barrier functions.
Its end-of-life performance will also depend on local collection and recycling systems capable of handling beverage cartons and separating or recovering their constituent materials.
A different format for traditional wine
The move into aseptic cartons demonstrates how alternative packaging formats are being applied to categories strongly associated with established pack types. Glass bottles remain closely linked with wine, but carton packaging introduces different characteristics in terms of pack weight, portability and physical form.
For Sangue de Boi, Aurora Wine Cooperative is applying the format to an existing sweet red wine rather than creating a separate product specifically around the packaging concept. This makes the development particularly relevant as an example of format diversification within a traditional beverage category.
The introduction also illustrates the balance involved in paperisation. Although paperboard accounts for a substantial proportion of the carton structure, polymers and aluminium continue to perform important technical roles. The result is therefore best understood as a multilayer aseptic packaging system rather than a straightforward replacement of one packaging material with another.
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