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Similar Bottles? Geographic Region


CountySeat

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We are in the process of picking a bottle. We have looked at a lot of different options and were hoping to find something not used too often without having to have a custom bottle made.

We found a stock bottle that we like for a variety of reasons (fits what our product will be branded as, good shelf presence, etc). We just found out that a new craft distillery that is nearby (same state, about 75 miles away) is already using the same bottle. They have been open for about 6 months, we won't be open for about 9-12 months. We will sell in the same product category.

Would this deter anyone from using the same bottle? Would it really matter if the labels are much different?

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Speaking for myself, if you were thinking of putting the same type of spirit in the same bottle, I would not do it unless it is a very standard sort of bottle. Maybe, if for example they use a printed label and you were going to screen print, but otherwise you risk confusion and/or being called derivative. Finding glass you like is harder than I first thought it would be, so it's a painful decision. Good luck.

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Thanks. We are considering it. We like another stock bottle we found but someone else is using it in the same state, albeit 300 miles away.

I wouldn't be afraid to use the same bottle as you can always differentiate your product by having the bottle decorated or by having a really nice label designed. You can also upgrade from using a regular bar top cork to a wooden cork. There are thousands of wineries here in the US using the same style of bottles and with the increasing number of craft distilleries opening up it will be hard to find anything new under the sun to diversify your brand. The other positive thing to using the same bottle as other distilleries is that you won't run into supply issues especially if the glass is made in the US. If you would like our online spirits catalogue please let me know.

Cheers,

Shawn

4500 E. Main Street
Richmond, VA 23231
P 910.399.1846 I C 910.620.9921
shawn@wmrhill.com
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Thanks for the thoughts. Are concerns are that there are only a few products made in state here and if we are using the same bottles as the other local distilleries, it may just look like a copy move even if we have drastically different labels. The two bottles were are looking at are fairly distinctive - not just Arizona bottles.

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I have an odd feeling one of these "other distilleries" may be me.. If it is, that's totally cool if you use the same bottle. I will just tell everyone who asks that your stuff is our low-quality discount line of products that we produce off site. ha ha, just joking. sort of...

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If you have any issue with people using the same bottle being mistaken for each other, go spend ten minutes in a your local liquor store. The bulk of Craft distillers are using basically the same bottle. The two most used are the bottle used by Templeton Rye and dozens of other brands. The other one is the tall straight bottle with a long neck. In the end the label will do the talking for you.

Don't get me wrong, I wish I had the money to make a bottle like Dry Fly or Pritchard's, but I don't have that kind of capital at start up. I am investing my time and a much smaller some in well designed labels (I'm going with screened bottles from Universal Packaging). When I reach a level of success then a custom bottle will be in my future. Hell Few Spirits has some of the best looking labels around in my opinion and they use a stock O-I bottle. Does the label make that ordinary bottle stand out on the shelf? You be the judge. Go with your gut, go with a bottle you like, be original in your design, and best of luck.

P.S. How many custom beer bottles do you see? There are almost ten times as many of those guys as there are craft distillers.

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Definitely go for a different bottle. There are SO many stock options about.

Things to bear in mind for stock options.

- go for something with half and miniature versions

- go for something with different colour variants (flint, green...)

- go for something unusual

and if you can't stand the idea of labelling by hand...

- go for something cyclindical. avoid tapers and cuboids.

p.s Dry Fly looks like the Neos by Saverglass

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