29 Nov 2020 How is canned wine innovation evolving?

Covid-19 has prompted consumers to increasingly shift to on-the-go drink offerings. IWSR looks at how the canned wine space is evolving.

Canned wine is overcoming the stigma surrounding alternative wine packaging formats thanks to its environmental credentials, convenience and a growing appeal among younger consumers.

In some markets – notably the US, but also the UK and Australia – the format is moving closer towards broader consumer acceptance, similar to the position of screwcap wines 15-20 years ago.

However, despite a number of positive attributes, including easy storage and transportation in the supply chain, and portability by consumers, wine in cans still faces a number of barriers, including negative quality perceptions by older wine consumers, and continued resistance in more traditional wine markets.

According to IWSR research director and head of wine, Daniel Mettyear, a new wave of quality-focused canned wine products is cutting through the traditionally negative perceptions of the format from the sometimes conservative wine industry.

“Newer, younger consumers are more willing to try out wine in cans and get involved with the category,” he says.

This increased interest is now piquing the interest of a number of producers.

“We see wine in cans as an excellent way to bring more and younger consumers into the wine category,” says Sandy Mayo, chief marketing officer at Accolade Wines.

“They enable safe exploration (a lower cost commitment compared to buying a bottle to trying new and different wines), moderation, convenience, on-the-go, more casual consumption and, of course, because they have a lower environmental impact than glass.”

Taking increasingly imaginative packaging cues from the craft beer segment enables canned wine to target millennial consumers – and also takes the category into the fast-growing territory inhabited by RTDs and hard seltzers.

Canned wine has multiple environmental benefits versus glass, including being more easily recyclable, and being lighter and more efficient to transport. Cans also take up less space in on-premise venues such as bars and pubs.

They play into consumer concerns surrounding wellness and wastage, as well: most cans are the equivalent of half a bottle of wine or less, allowing for greater portion control.

Opportunity to experiment

“One of the things that puts less experienced wine drinkers off exploring different wines is that you have to buy a whole bottle – and you might end up throwing half of it away,” points out Mettyear.

Cans have the potential to “democratise” wine, says Kenny Rochford, co-founder of US canned wine specialist West + Wilder, but he still encounters some resistance.

“Just the other day we had a trade buyer comment on cans tasting of aluminium – which is a psychological experience rather than a physical one – but it goes to show how changing perceptions about new things requires patience,” he says.

Fellow US business Sans Wine Co has taken cans into the premium-plus price segment with a roster of seven ‘natural’ single vineyard wines – including a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon at US$25 for a 375ml can. Sans co-founder Jake Stover believes that even the US is still at “base camp” when it comes to consumer acceptance of quality wine in cans.

He says: “We are at a higher level of consumer understanding than when we started around five years ago at ‘sea level’. However, there is a ton of room for experimentation and customer feedback, and it feels as though the wine consumer is still acclimatising to the idea.”

That’s even more true outside the US. Liz Cobbold, marketing director at UK-based Broadland Drinks, reckons that the US is “a couple of years” ahead of the UK, but is optimistic that things are changing fast. Broadland has Minivino, a single-serve wine brand available in PET cups, cans and 187ml bottles, and investment in a new canning line will lead to the launch of several new SKUs in 2021…..

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