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En Vogue? – Wine from the Can

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En Vogue? – Wine from the Can

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After alcopop, shandies and prosecco, wine in the can is now reaching new target groups. Bubbly wine drinks, packaged ready-to-drink in attractively designed aluminium cans. While this may mean the loss of classic wine culture for true wine connoisseurs, it is opening the door to entirely new possibilities for lifestyle food service. Trendsetters drink wine from the can. Insert a straw and go.

Practical, trendy and environmentally friendly — this is the motto under which Rexam Beverage Can is presenting innovative beverage cans for wine and wine drinks. The cans can be designed individually and are suitable for numerous situations, from picnics in the park to large-scale events to airlines, cinemas and lifestyle gastronomy. The individual portions are quickly chilled, easy to transport and unbreakable. This makes the can welcome everywhere that glass bottles are impractical or even prohibited. A further advantage: the can is the only packaging format that is impervious to light and oxygen and ideally protects the contents.

The fact that the beverage can is also an extremely environmentally friendly form of packaging makes it increasingly interesting for wine producers. Additional proof is delivered by a current study by the association BMCE (Beverage Can Makers Europe). The study compares the CO2 emissions created by various beverage packages during manufacture, transport, storage and recycling.

Glass lends Elegance

A study from the USA (Sacramento Bee, 13 August 2008) demonstrates, however, that consumers between 20 and 30 years of age constitute 21 percent of all regular wine drinkers and with that represent an important target group for he wine industry. According to the study, the young people also prefer wine in glass bottles. The "20 plus" age group drinks wine socially and for pleasure, and places more importance on recommendations from friends than on comments from wine critics. The study also showed that this group doesn't care much about traditional rules in terms of combining specific wines with specific dishes. Nonetheless, although this new group of wine drinkers is not as attached to tradition, they still clearly prefer wine in glass bottles. The young consumers also appreciate that the purity, taste and aroma of the wine are preserved and that it obtains its perfect purity in the bottle. Social factors also play an important role. Serving wine from a bottle still symbolizes a certain elegance and premium character of the product.

The Institute of Oenology in Bordeaux studied the storage of wine in an 18.7 cl bottle to determine whether a lighter alternative material such as PVC or PET might be just as suitable as glass — a question that could play an important role for airlines, for example. Once again the conclusion was that glass is the most suitable material for the packaging and storage of wine. It's difficult to imagine, then, that the true wine expert and aficionado will be ready to give up the classic glass bottle for his fine drop. After all, the screw cap is already having a hard time establishing itself in this area.

The Target Group is Decisive

Welf Jung, Director of Sales and Marketing for Rexam Beverage Can is convinced that "wine in cans has a future. We are having particular success with this with a younger target group that has a sense for trends yet is environmentally conscious." Wine in aluminium cans will most likely remain a novelty item, however — trendy and stylish for the "Paris Hilton generation".

Whatever and for whom ever: wine tastes infinitely better when it's correctly and attractively packaged. And, as we all know, tastes vary — in terms of the drink as well as the corresponding packaging. Wine producers are continuously coming up with new packaging variations with the goal of increased individuality. The target group is decisive. Whether a practical wine sack, a trendy aluminium can, elaborate gift packaging or simply the classically elegant glass bottle — the old adage also rings true where wine is concerned: to each his own.

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