Wine in cans: Trending products

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Cans that can

Market trends suggest canned wines are increasingly popular with consumers as well as offering sustainability and operational benefits to onboard service, says Julie Baxter...

Canned wines. To many the very pairing of those two words sounds like an oxymoron, an aberration, an impossibility. But market trends suggest wine purists who resist the very concept are increasingly in the minority.

Market intelligence company, Straits Research, is predicting the global market will reach over $725m by 2030 – up from a 2021 value of $241m.

Consumer demand has rocketed as the inclination towards ready-to-eat, ready-to-drink, consumption has grown. Convenient, portable, single-serve wine servings align with today's busy lifestyles and outdoor socialising, especially fuelled by Covid lockdowns and meeting up restrictions.

Despite being home to some of the world’s finest, most traditional vineyards, Europe and the US dominate the canned wine market but there are also strong sales in the Asia-Pacific region, especially India and China, thanks to the rising urbanization and western influence.

Benefits of cans

Eco-credentials are also influencing the trend as many claim metal cans are less expensive to create and transport, and have a higher recycling rate than glass. Studies also show cans are cheaper and easier to stock and stack, meaning less breakage.

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The eco-impacts of the aluminium extraction itself however remains controversial but for one group of wine experts the eco-benefits are clear. The Wine Traders for Alternative Formats (WTAF) is an alliance of premium and innovative wine companies promoting quality wine in new formats.

The group believes changing formats is the only way the wine industry can significantly cut its carbon footprint. Oli Purnell, of Copper Crew, says for the alliance: “Manufacturing and recycling of glass bottles is wine’s biggest greenhouse gas contributor. In order to minimise the carbon footprint of the wines we drink, we need to seek out wines in alternative packaging wherever possible. Switching from glass to alternative formats could save as much as 750,000,000 KgCO2e of emissions every year in the UK alone. This is the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road overnight, and is well over a third of the carbon footprint of wine consumed in the UK.”

They, along with wine experts and commentators, are calling for the introduction of tax incentives for carbon-friendly alternative packaging to reduce reliance on single-use glass bottles.

Purnell adds: “Viable alternative formats include boxed wine, canned wine, kegs, returnable glass bottles, paper bottles and pouches, all of which come with vastly reduced carbon footprints and other benefits. Crucially, there is little or no perceivable difference in quality between these formats and wine in glass bottles for wines drunk within a few months of purchase, as most are.”

ideal for onboard

For onboard service, the convenience value of cans is well established for beers, cocktails and soft drinks, and is increasingly popular for ready-mixed spirits too. Wines have traditionally been offered in single serve bottles (glass or plastic) in Economy or presented with some ritual from full sized bottles in premium cabins. However, the popularity of canned wines on the ground is clearly generating interest for onboard too.

Delta launched ‘The Betty’ last summer, a sparkling wine in a can from Une Femme. A classic Blanc de Blancs, The Betty was made specifically for the airline. Then earlier this year, Delta added a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Chardonnay in cans from Imagery Estate Winery, a Sonoma winery led by award-winning winemaker Jamie Benziger.

The airline says the wine’s aluminum packaging reduces annual plastic use by up to 250,000 pounds. The wines are also grown sustainably, as certified by the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, adding to the eco-messaging and supporting the airline’s

Pictured: Wines in cans are being launched around the world

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commitment to sustainable air travel and its goal to be ‘a catalyst for global change’. From the UK, The Uncommon canned range of sparkling wines is featured in British Airways’ High Life shop, and Virgin Atlantic offers it in tasting sessions for Upper Class passengers on aircraft with its The Booth social area. Henry Connell, founder of the range identifies both convenience and wine wastage as key saying: “Single-serve aluminium cans help reduce the billion Winemakers can litres of wine thrown away each year - make the wines fizz that goes flat - it’s a perfect solution. ready for the Cans chill in just 15 minutes too; are canned format, endlessly recyclable and very lightweight. with maturation in tank or barrel Their carbon footprint is 80% lighter than glass.” The sector is strong on innovation which is driving new branding partnership and brings good appeal for onboard retail. The Canned Wine Co., for example, has launched an exclusive partnership with the National Gallery to release limited edition artist labels on three canned wines. These labels feature artwork from Vincent van Gogh, Paulus Theodorus van Brussel and Paul Gaugin.

art on cans

Judith Mather the Buying and Brand Licensing Director at the National Gallery Global Limited says: “The Canned Wine Co. has created a range of beautifully designed canned wines that showcase the National Gallery’s artworks in a very fresh and original way.”

Canned Wine Co.’s Head Wine Buyer, Ben Franks, tackles head-on any suggestion that quality or taste is inferior with a canned product. He says: “Our wines are sourced from some of Europe’s finest winemakers with a focus on quality. We work with our winemakers to make the wines ready for the canned format, with maturation in tank or barrel prior to canning so they taste at their best. Given the legendary status of the artists we’ve secured for the cans, we made sure the finest wine is canned inside.”

The company’s mission is to revolutionise the wine industry by making exciting, quality wines more accessible and sustainable. They source single-variety, vintage wines from some of Europe’s most talented winemakers and prioritise sustainably grown vineyards. They also partner with Every Can Counts to support the aluminium recycling, something the travel sector also needs to consider as aluminium recycling infrastructure is still limited at most airports.

In India, Sula Vineyards, India’s renowned wine brand, launched its first-ever canned wine under the brand name Dia Sparkler. In the US, the Molson Coors Beverage Company added a line of canned wine spritzers under the Movo brand. The flavours include Blood Orange Sangria, Raspberry Rosé, and Peach White Blend.

In the UK, Canvino puts a strong focus on provenance credentials and millennial-friendly pastel packaging for its lightly sparkling, fresh and fruity Bianco and medium-dry lightly sparkling Rosé from Italian grapes. The wines are created without artificial CO2 to be as close to the bottle equivalent as possible. They also offer wine-based cocktails - a take on an Aperitivo Spritz and a Raspberry Bellini.

Canned wines are clearly a trend with legs, and that’s not just a description from the tasting notes.•