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Sleeves play crucial role in modern look

Long established mead and fruit wine producer the Cornish Mead Company has become one of the first wine companies to use shrink sleeves as part of its packaging. The new eye-catching sleeves from CCL Decorative Sleeves are part of a radical repackaging for the 50 year old brand.

The rationale behind the decision to seek new packaging for the Mead wines and liqueurs was twofold. Cornish Mead Company wanted to appeal to a new, younger audience of drinkers between 18 and 30 alongside its traditional older market; at the same time, the company could no longer use the very characteristic bottle that had made Mead unique for the last 50 years and was moving to a standard, lighter weight wine bottle. For this reason, the new packaging had to offer something unique.

The all-over coverage of sleeves therefore provided the ideal medium for the new eye-catching designs created by Cornish design agency Glendall Design. CCL Decorative Sleeves worked closely with Glendall, Cornish Mead Company and the sleeve application company, A&S Packaging, in the development of the project.

The sleeves are UV Flexo printed in six to eight colours and feature a surface lacquer for a matt finish to further enhance on-shelf appeal. The sleeve material selected, 50 Micron high shrink PET, ensures a close fit around the bottle, in particular its narrow neck section.

The new designs combine traditional Cornish Mead values of myths and legends, good times and storytelling, and strength and flavour with a modern and fresh look. The 360° full wrap design allowed by the sleeves retains the crest shape and deep, rich colours of the previous bottle along with new illustrative designs including a tattoo effect for the Mead products and fruit plants for the fruit wines.

“With its wealth of experience, CCL Decorative Sleeves was the ideal sleeve supplier and we have been delighted with the company’s contribution to this important rebranding exercise,” comments Matt Leighworthy of Cornish Mead Company.

“Indeed the close working partnership between all parties has been exemplary and contributed to a highly successful launch and buoyant sales.”

Mead and fruit wines from the Cornish Mead Company are produced to a recipe reviving the ancient art of mead-making, preserved for centuries in the monasteries of Old England. Mead, a traditional honey-flavoured wine, is available in two styles, Cornish Mead Wine and Cornish Mead Liqueur, and the six fruit wines are blackberry, elderberry, strawberry, peach, apricot and cherry.