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A California winery is taking advantage of Louisville’s strategic location for delivering its product to customers.
B Cellars, based in Napa Valley, has moved its fulfillment hub to Louisville. The company is partnering with Impackful Solutions, located at 1600 Bernheim Lane, which specializes in packaging, fulfillment, co-packing and storage of wine.
Curtis Strohl, general manager of B Cellars, said the winery started doing its own fulfillment a couple years ago. The company only sells direct to consumer, meaning it doesn’t stock its product in stores or restaurants.
Having worked with Impackful Solutions founder Joe Taber in the past, the pair already had a strong working relationship. In 2021, B Cellars came to Taber about finding new materials, instead of Styrofoam, to package its wines that are better for the environment.
Together, they weighed the different solutions, eventually going with GreenCell Foam, an insulation made from renewable, U.S.-grown corn.
As this was happening, Taber was setting up shop in Louisville.
“UPS or FedEx would pick [the shipments] up here at the winery and take them all over the country,” Strohl said. “Around the same time, Joe was setting up this distribution, fulfillment hub in Louisville, which is obviously a good place to ship out of, location wise, and in relationship to UPS. So, he approached us about doing some remote fulfillment.”
Warehouse Manager Antawan Fields, right, works the pick-and-pack station with Dejuan Beals in the main warehouse at Impackful Solutions, which specializes in packaging, fulfillment, co-packing, and storage of wine and spirits products.
It made sense to the team at B Cellars because ground shipping from the West Coast to the East Coast can take five days, though it’s usually more like seven with the weekend. Not only is that an inconvenience for customers, but Strohl said wine is temperature-sensitive and can be ruined if it gets too hot or too cold on the journey.
The company officially loaded up its warehouse and moved product to Louisville late last year. Strohl said it still makes sense to keep some of its product in Napa Valley for the local customers, but most of its orders are now stored and shipped from Louisville.
While this is not the first time a winery has done remote fulfillment, Strohl said the relationship between Impackful and B Cellars is unique because of their size.
“A lot of wineries put their wine in a warehouse, and that warehouse … may be shipping wine for 40 to 50 different wineries out of the same warehouse,” Strohl said. “What we didn't like about those services is now you're one step removed as the producer from the order. When a customer calls up and has any questions about the box, you have to go through someone else's information to get the answer.”
B Cellars, which sells around 12,000 cases of wine per year, is the only winery Impackful Solution does fulfillment for in this way. In an interview, Taber said the company does wine club runs or storage with other clients, but it’s not on the same scale as what it does for B Cellars.
Taber said having a smaller operation allows the company to put a lot of focus on its packaging, checking and rechecking boxes to avoid mispicks.
“Once you make a bottle of wine, you will never make another bottle of wine the exact same,” Taber said. “Next year's wine is going to be different than this year. So, it's really important that … our team understands every bottle means something.”
Impackful Solutions has five full time employees, and Taber said the company utilizes a temp agency for peak seasons like the holidays. The operation takes up 40,000 square feet in its West Louisville facility, with an additional 60,000 square feet to grow into.
And the company is growing rapidly. Between launching in 2021 to the end of 2022, the company increased business by almost 400%, Taber said. He declined to disclose annual revenue.
The relationship between Impackful Solutions and B Cellars works so well because of one thing: trust. Strohl said finding real solutions in sustainability or in business practices takes creativity and risk. Having a partner who you can trust is key.
“You have to have partnerships to breed that creativity, that are good at what they do, and that can share their expertise,” Strohl said. “And if you're going to do that highest level, you have to have trust.”
Attendance: 2022
| Rank | Prior Rank | Name / Prior rank |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Buffalo Trace Distillery |
2 | 2 | Huber's Starlight Distillery |
3 | 3 | Angel's Envy Distillery |