Codi Automation: Reducing Winery Labor Costs with Automation.

The wine industry is navigating a difficult period. Declining per-capita consumption, excess inventory sitting in tanks, demographic shifts in how consumers buy alcohol, and tighter access to credit are forcing wineries to rethink how they produce, package, and ship product.

At the same time, labor challenges and demand patterns are less predictable than they were even five years ago. In this environment, large, inflexible capital projects are harder to justify. What wineries increasingly need are practical automation tools that improve cash flow, reduce operational risk, and preserve flexibility.

Codi Manufacturing works across beverage segments—wine, beer, RTD, and non-alcoholic—and those cross-industry lessons are increasingly relevant to wineries looking to adapt without overextending.

Improving Winery Cash Flow: Counter Pressure Canning vs. Traditional Bottling.

For many wineries, a significant amount of working capital is tied up in product that is difficult to move quickly. Bulk wine stored in tanks represents sunk cost, while traditional bottling runs often require long planning horizons, minimum volumes, and significant upfront expense.

Red wine being filled on a Codi Counter Pressure Filler - note the liquid nitrogen added to the can.

Counterpressure canning offers an alternative path—particularly for wineries exploring canned wines, spritzers, or RTD wine-based beverages.

With a counter pressure system like Codi’s CCL-45, wineries can:

• Reduce product loss by for sparkling wine by maintaining carbonation

• Increase shelf-life by minimizing dissolved oxygen pickup

• Run smaller, more frequent production batches instead of committing to large bottling runs

• Shorten time-to-market for seasonal or experimental products

• Access packaging formats that appeal to younger, price-sensitive consumers

• Reduce finished-goods storage costs by accelerating inventory turnover

Canning does not replace traditional bottling for every application, but it allows wineries to unlock value from existing inventory and respond to market demand without tying up additional capital in long-lead bottling capacity.

Solving Winery Labor Shortages with Automated Palletizing.

Labor remains one of the most volatile cost centers in beverage production. Manual palletizing, in particular, is physically demanding, repetitive, and increasingly difficult to staff consistently—especially during peak production windows.

Wine bottles being placed into a carton by Codi's Flex Pack

Automated palletizing systems such as Flex Stack Pro and Flex Pack address this problem directly:

• Replace labor-intensive manual stacking with consistent, repeatable automation

• Reduce ergonomic injuries and workers’ compensation exposure

• Improve shift reliability and throughput predictability

• Achieve return on investment in as little as one year when replacing manual palletizing

For smaller wineries, Flex Stack systems can operate on single-phase 120V power, making automation feasible without major facility upgrades. As production grows, the same platforms can scale to three-phase operation and higher throughput—protecting the original investment.

The result is not just labor savings, but operational resilience in an environment where staffing uncertainty has become the norm.

Codi's gantry palletizer, Flex Stack Pro, automates palletizing and depalletizing

Flexibility for the Future: Adapting to Changing Demand

Consumer preferences are evolving rapidly. Younger buyers are more likely to explore canned beverages, spritzers, RTD cocktails, and hybrid formats. For wineries, this creates both pressure and opportunity.

Modular automation allows wineries to respond without committing to single-purpose equipment:

• CCL-45 supports a wide range of carbonation levels and product types, proven across seltzers, sodas, RTDs, teas, and wine-based beverages

• Flex Pack automates case loading with fast changeovers, making high-mix, low-volume production practical

• Flex Stack supports mixed-SKU pallets, enabling efficient shipping of diverse product lines to distributors or direct-to-consumer channels

This flexibility allows wineries to test new formats, support co-packing opportunities, and launch limited releases without redesigning the entire packaging line.

A Practical Approach to Automation

In uncertain markets, durability and scalability matter. Equipment decisions must support today’s needs while leaving room to grow—without forcing wineries to overbuy capacity they may not use.

Codi’s approach reflects that reality:

• Built-to-last systems designed for long service life

• Scalable platforms that expand as demand grows

• Quick changeovers to support experimentation and SKU diversity

• Made in Colorado, with local engineering and service support for the craft beverage community

  
  

Automation, when applied thoughtfully, is not about replacing people or chasing trends. It is about reducing risk, improving cash flow, and maintaining control in a changing industry.