New Zealand vintner gets to use Maori symbol on wine label

As reported by this blog, consumers are demanding more products to be from local companies and producers. One such example has been in the wine industry, where, with so many different brands and wine labels, vintners are making it a priority to market their labels as geocentric and regional.

Such is the case of Royce and Sue McKean’s latest wine label, Tiki Wines.

The couple, native New Zealanders, started the winery after successful and international corporate careers, according to the Star Canterbury, a Kiwi news paper. While New Zealand wine is nothing out of the ordinary, being able to put a Maori label on a product requires the owners to jump through multiple hoops.

With a family farming tradition dating back hundreds of years in the country, the company was able to get the vineyards up and running in a relatively short amount of time. In fact, the grapes are produced organically, using the ancient and native Kaitakitanga philosophy of guarding the land.

Royce McKean’s great-great-grandfather is also Tiki tere Mihi, once Chieftan of the Ngati Uenuku.

According to the source, the company wanted the wine’s custom labels to reflect their family’s connection to the land. So they sought approval to use Royce McKean’s grandfather’s name as well as the kiwi symbol on their custom label.

“We wanted something that would elevate the perception of Maoridom and the Pacific,” the couple told the source. “Pretty much everyone knows what a tiki is, it’s such a strong symbol that people have an emotive attachment to and therefore we wanted to execute it respectfully on the bottle.”

It’s clear that being able to identify with a certain demographic is very important when branding, especially something as geocentric as wine. If companies wish to create high-quality custom wine labels that speak toward their specific brand and regionality, they may want to use a Primera LX900 color label printer.