Jack Mans / Packaging Digest

Wine in cans with strong market potential

The market for wine in cans offers great potential, as the double-digit growth of sales figures for Europe in recent years demonstrate. Reasons for that development are changing market structures as well as new trends in consumer behavior. Small-sized cans with a volume of 200 to 250 ml are particularly attractive to consumers who only enjoy wine occasionally or in single-serve quantities such as in single households.

The metal packaging also offers a way of reaching young consumers who are not traditional wine drinkers but would like to try a premium wine in an innovative packaging. "Wine in a can is convenient and trendy," explains Gerlof Toenhake, Director Marketing at Ball Packaging Europe. "Cans are unbreakable, lightweight and compact, making them ideal for outdoor and on-the-go consumption like on a picnic or at a music festival. "Wine in cans also has a particular appeal to market segments where ease of transport, weight, storage and safety are important. This is the case for airlines, passenger ships and trains. Also, specially designed Vinsafe cans are the ideal packaging for the worldwide export of wine."

From the wineries' viewpoint, beverage cans offer enhanced graphic options like thermochromic ink that changes color depending on the temperature of the can or embossing to mould a detail into the surface which underlines the exclusivity of the design. Additionally, they provide premium quality as they are impermeable to oxygen and light.

When it comes to sustainability, beverage cans offer various benefits. The metal containers are completely and infinitely recyclable. Recycling them saves up to 95 percent of the energy that is needed to produce new material. What is more, CO2 emissions are reduced by up to 95 percent.

Cacolac is based in Léognan, just south of Bordeaux, within one of France's premium wine-growing regions. In early August, the Cacolac facility underwent a comprehensive Vinsafe accreditation process to fill wine in a can. In May, the Spanish filler Font Salem became the first company licensed to fill wine in a can.

Only accredited and certified (Vinsafe) filling facilities can be relied on by wine producers to ensure the consistent quality of their wine in a can products thus offering unique protection to this new global wine category.