I was interested in a number of the the parallels between the wine and craft beer/spirits markets in class this week. The ability to mail products direct to consumer in the wine industry, while a bit painful, is a solution that developed when producers came together to contest the regulatory status quo. It was suggested by Tracey that she expects the craft beer and spirits industries to follow suit in the near future. As I was thinking about the interconnectedness of all these industries I started wondering if there are any trends that we'll see flow in the other direction?
The first one that came to mind was canned beverages. For a long time the craft beer industry was almost exclusively bottles, but within the last several years there has been a significant move to offering a canned option. There are many benefits to moving to canned, including lower transportation costs, ease of recycling, and a lower carbon footprint. Within the last year I've noticed canned options popping up at Trader Joe's, and I think there are some interesting benefits associated with canned wine. Opening a bottle of wine when you only want a single serving is a pain, especially if you don't know when you'll be able to drink the rest. With still wine there is an option to re-cork and consume it within a few days. Sparkling wines and Champagne go flat if you don't finish the bottle in one sitting - cans seem like a great solution! Cans also seems like an interesting way to try new wines without committing to a full bottle. I feel like there's a potential market for a canned product, but is there a stigma attached to drinking wine from a can? Is part of the experience opening the bottle, or do consumers associate luxury with wine and budget with cans?
A quick internet search suggests that the canned wine market has doubled each of the last two years. Is canned wine a fad, or is there potential staying power??
I am a HUGE fan of canned wine - not necessarily because I think it's excellent wine, but because it is very convenient. As someone who doesn't drink beer, I find canned wine is easy to bring for picnics and on trains (e.g., commuter trains where you can drink, like the CalTrain or the Long Island Railroad). I don't think consumers will be able to see canned wine as a luxury item (at least in the near future), but I do think that a lot of canned wine brands are doing a good job of making them very aesthetically pleasing and not appear as the "budget" option.
ReplyDeleteInteresting question! I think it is important to consider consumer behavior around drinking wine to assess the feasibility of canned wine. Questions such as: How many people drink wine by themselves vs with friends? How much wine does one person drink on average per night if by themselves? How much do people care about temperature of the wine being served?
ReplyDeleteI could see potential around canned white wine or rose in particular. The potentially popular use case is probably very similar to canned beer - where people can bring a cooler and picnic/bbq outside and drink. But for red wine, it is hard to maintain the ideal serving temperature of 62-68F.
Additionally, I can see possibility for creative packaging for canned wines. Maybe increase the size of the opening, or allow the cover to completely come off with a pull tab. This might align better with consumer's existing knowledge to allow air to oxidize the wine before drinking it.