Press release
Continental Industrial Tyres ensure the champagne corks do not pop
Successful collaboration between two premium manufacturers
Hannover, January 2010. The partnership between Continental Industrial Tyres
and the world's leading champagne producer Moët et Chandon is now entering
its tenth year. A visit to the extensive wine cellars in Epernay in France shows
why fine champagne and Continental industrial tyres go so well together.
Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH in Hannover, Germany's leading manufacturer
of industrial tyres, has been working with Moët et Chandon, one of the world's best
known and most prestigious vintners, for many years. The quality of Moët et Chandon
champagne is as highly-regarded worldwide as is that of Continental industrial tyres.
There is, however, even more common ground in the long-standing venture between
the two premium suppliers.
Just as Continental Industrial Tyres are able to develop and produce products tailored
specifically to customers' specifications and requirements, so the vintners and champagne makers at Moët et Chandon are able to meet individual demands. Both companies can also look back on long traditions. Admittedly, the champagne manufacturer
was founded in 1743, making it older than Continental, which was established in 1871.
Continental produces over 100 million tyres every year. In 2008 Moët et Chandon produced some 36 million bottles of champagne, with a good 100 million bottles being
stored in the manufacturer's cellars, up to 35 metres below the ground.
Once these fine champagnes have duly matured in the chalkstone cellars, the time
comes for them to travel. Eighty per cent of the company's production is exported,
mainly to the USA and Japan. Moët et Chandon uses around 90 forklifts, which are
currently fitted with Continental SC20 tyres, following the company's positive experience with the tyre's predecessor, the SC15. One of the main reasons for choosing
these forklift tyres from Continental is that they do not contain any materials that generate nitrosamines, so there is no risk of tyre wear particles contaminating the fine
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wine. "We have the highest quality standards and have to meet the standards set by
the foodstuffs industry“, explains Thierry Manteau, who has been responsible for
maintenance and warehousing at Moët et Chandon for the past twenty years and He is
one of around 1,100 staff working for this long-established company. For him, however,
the mileage performance and traction offered by the Continental tyres, together with
their suspension characteristics, are an equally persuasive argument. The tyre's suspension is an important feature when it comes to transporting the fragile bottles - and
ensuring that the corks do not pop prematurely.
The corridors in the wine cellars at Moët et Chandon are around 28 kilometres in total
length and the forklifts are in use here for an average of 600 hours per year in single
shifts, with a second shift being scheduled if the need arises. Thierry Manteau has two
staff members solely to look after the electric forklifts. Aprolis, a subsidiary of Cat Lift
Trucks, is responsible for the maintenance of the vehicles. Cat Lift Trucks belongs to
the well-known manufacturer Caterpillar and relies on Continental tyres as Original
Equipment, using the SC20, sizes 180/70-8 and 125/75-8, for Moët et Chandon. The
company leases the forklifts from Aprolis, who carry out all the repairs and maintenance in the champagne producer's workshop using a mobile press. This ensures that
there are always sufficient supplies from the world's most famous cultivation area for
those special festive occasions - after all, one of the brand's champagne corks pops
somewhere in the world every two seconds.
With sales of approximately €24 billion in 2008, Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers
worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis,
instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tires and technical elastomers, Continental
contributes enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. Continental is also a competent
partner in networked automobile communication. Continental currently employs approximately
134,000 at nearly 190 locations in 37 countries.
Continental is the only tyre manufacturer to supply a comprehensive range of industrial tyres, making
it the No. 1 in Germany and Europe, and one of the top three worldwide.
The Tyre Divisions are an Official Sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa TM. For more information, visit the websites www.ContiSoccerWorld.de, www.ContiFanWorld.com and www.contionline.com.
Contacts:
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Ute Weiß
Communication/PR Manager Industrial Tyres
Commercial Tyre Division
Continental AG I Rubber Group
Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH
Büttnerstraße 25
D-30165 Hannover, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 511 938 2131
Fax: +49 (0) 511 938 2706
E-mail: ute.weiss@conti.de
Udo Brandes
Head of Press and PR Comm. Vehicle Tyres
Commercial Tyre Division
Continental AG I Rubber Group
Continental Reifen Deutschland GmbH
Büttnerstraße 25
D-30165 Hannover, Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 511 938 2923
Fax +49 (0) 511 938 2496
E-mail: udo.brandes@conti.de
Media database on the internet: www.mediacenter.continental-corporation.com