Sure, you can turn your nose up at wine that comes in a can. But you'd be missing out on a serious growth category within the wine industry.
It isn't just the buzz that "alternative packaging" is receiving these days, with its attention on variations like boxed wine, recycled materials, single-serving containers, and wine in a can. (In a post earlier this week, I reported on sommeliers in restaurants pouring wine from Tetrapaks and cans.)
It's more the business case behind it that is so persuasive and eye-catching.
Consider these numbers.
Canned wine sales grew 125% in one year's time, according to research released last summer.
That translated to $16.4 million in annual revenue.
Union Wine Co. -- a category leader based at a manufacturing complex in Tualatin, Oregon, outside Portland -- posted a 3-year growth of 168% and will be launching two new products this year alone.
When I spoke with Union Wine Co.'s CEO and winemaker Ryan Harms two years ago, he spoke about how wine in a can "put us out there in the conversation," posting impressive reach on social media thanks to creative and edgy campaigns like "Pinkies Down" that were designed to reach their target audience of a young, social media-savvy demographic who connects with non-traditional concepts.
The momentum of Harms' growth rate then -- annualized at 35% -- has continued strong into 2017. I spoke with him about maintaining momentum, competitors in the marketplace, and rolling out those two new products later this year. Here are excerpts from our Q&A.
Union Wine Co. has been growing by leaps and bounds. First, what's driving that growth? And second, how do you maintain the momentum?
RH: The development of the new category is definitely what's been driving growth. Every time we think that consumers are broadly aware of wine in a can, we realize there’s a huge number of folks that haven’t been exposed to the idea yet. For us right now it’s filling in markets and being able to produce enough wine for 365 days a year.
In terms of maintaining growth, we’re looking at some line expansions, product innovation, and diversity of offerings. We introduced a rosé two years ago, last year we introduced a sparkling wine, and this year we're doing a sparkling rosé. We also continue to be innovative in the way we market and continue to raise awareness, which will fuel growth when consumers understand how they can adapt these wines into their everyday lives.
Posting such eye-catching numbers is bound to generate some competition. What ideas or concepts do you have your own eye on?
RH: The thing we see on our horizon, specific to cans, is that the idea of the wine cooler is starting to come back. Our approach would be a very premium product, something of the season, and something that’s grown and produced in Oregon. I think you’re seeing a little of that in the wine spritzer/sangria products that are out there.
We’ve also been playing around with wine cocktails for a long time, at our events and for ourselves. We've been taking some of the recipe development further and moving them into some commercial products for this year. We're launching a small, limited line of wine coolers this year that will just be seasonal.
We talk about the "beerification" of wine. If you look at the craft brewing industry and the seasonal offerings that craft brewers are certainly known for, seasonal wine in a can is an interesting riff off that.
Tell me about your new products in the Underwood line of canned products, and the challenges you face. How are they meant to continue your quest to "beerify" the wine industry, and break down wine's pretensions?
RH: There will be three different wine coolers that will come out across this year. Also the sparkling rosé will be launched late spring, only in limited markets to test it initially to see consumer reaction before we grow that particular product.
We're asked a lot about the availability of cans. The supply chain for getting the packaging was a challenge early on, and we're pleased with Ball Corporation in the U.S. as our partner. They found some options for us and helped us work through some early hurdles. As we’ve proven ourselves and the package has proven itself, there are things starting to happen that will make the package acquisition easier. Today we're seeing lots of product innovation around cans because there is still an impressive amount of people who haven’t even been introduced to the idea yet. Once people see it, they're pretty quick to understand where to work it into their lives.
