French wood packaging company Adam, founded in 1880, has launched an innovation that makes opening its crates and coffrets that much more intuitive.
“One of the recurring demands from our clients when it comes to traditional wooden crates concerns the opening gesture. Today most grand crus are packed in cases that the end consumer has to open with a screwdriver, so there have long been queries in this area. Our new development, patented earlier this year, allows the case to be opened without any risk of breakage to the lid,” explains Adam development director Joackim Di Dio.
The inside of the wooden crate is machined, allowing the lid to fit just inside rather than resting on top, and tilts open when pressed. Once open, the lid can stay upright, allowing the crate to double as a display. In a bid to make the opening gesture even more intuitive, an indentation on the front of the case incites the user to press to open the lid.
“Thanks to this novel opening system, the wooden crate, which traditionally was seen as simply a means of packing and transporting bottles, becomes a bit more sophisticated. These crates, especially when it comes to grand crus, are an image vector, so the user experience is paramount. This is where our expertise comes in,” notes Di Dio.
The patented system was first developed with Pomerol estate Clos du Clocher, and it has since been adopted by some of the supplier’s other premium customers for their crates or coffrets, as the system can be applied to both.
Adam manufactures crates, coffrets and merchandising displays—a very small share of the business, according to di Dio. Its products are segmented into four offers: Standard, Standard Plus, Premium and Luxe, with processes and levels of quality control. All of its production uses PEFC wood and is manufactured in France. Turnover last year reached €8.5m.
Adam’s Coffret Mystère for Pomerol Séduction won the Formes de Luxe Award last year in the Premium Coffret category.
