Wine packaging has drastically evolved over the years! Why you might ask?
Well for one, the way in which we consume wine has definitely changed because more consumers are on the go!
traditional wine packaging
Traditionally, wine packaging has always been associated with glass bottles to portray brand quality and luxury.
However, prior to glass, did you know that early winemakers in Mesopotamia and Egypt stored their wine in clay flasks called amphorae? It wasn’t until 1600 BC, when the first glass vessel was made in Mesopotamia!
Over the next few centuries, producing glass became much more easier and cheaper to produce. Ultimately, with the rise of the Roman Empire, glass products became more accessible to the common people as well.
In turn, it was quickly determined that glass was a good way to store wine because it had no affect on flavour and made it easier for a person to identify the bottle’s content.
Since then, glass blowing techniques have improved immensely, followed by the era of mass production. Within this era, a split mold process was created which enabled companies to begin branding their bottles with paper labels!
present-day glass bottles
Fast forward to today and glass bottles are one of the most popular ways to package wine!
Aside from storing contents and its aesthetic appeal, glass plays a vital role in protecting the quality of the wine by reducing oxygen permutation through the container. This helps the aging process!
Nonetheless, in the past few years, wine bottles have been gradually gaining weight to represent higher quality. With wineries striving to differentiate themselves from competitors, the additional weight has had adverse affects on transportation and protection costs!
Moreover, with the rise of eco-consumerism, glass has become less favourable because of its high carbon footprint.
So how has wine packaging evolved to address this issue?
canned wine
To mitigate the issue of high production costs and CO2 emissions, manufacturers have begun producing ‘greener’ or more lightweight glass bottles. But these bottles don’t compare in the presence of canned wine!
Since 2013, canned wine has become really popular because it’s kept up with the ongoing changes in consumers’ lives. With a majority of consumers being millennials, their lifestyle is really busy with hectic schedules!
Millennials are also less loyal to a brand and seek new experiences. Furthermore, there are a lot more public places which have started allowing the consumption of alcohol.
Keeping this in mind, consumers are more inclined to indulge in single-serve options such as canned wine!
Canned wines are not only attractive, lightweight, and recyclable, but are available for bulk purchases in corrugated carriers or folding cartons!
Flat bottles
Created by Garçon Wines, flat bottles were originally made to be novelty gifts, but similar to canned wines, they help address the issue of high CO2 emissions!
In comparison to conventional glass bottles, flat bottles use pre-existing, recycled PET! With a primary focus on sustainability, this evolution is deemed to be an important innovation for wine packaging in the 21st century!
These bottles are not only 40% spatially smaller, but 87% lighter as well! While they’re predominantly popular in the European market, flat bottles are quickly making their way into transforming the North American market as well!
paper bottles
Following the craze of canned wines and flat bottles, let’s take a look at paper bottles!
In 2014, Winemaker Truett-Hurst launched a fully recyclable, molded-pulp wine bottle to appeal to eco-conscious, on-the-go wine lovers!
The bottle was created for the premium brand ‘PaperBoy‘, and it was a first for the American market!
The benefits of paper bottles include saving on transportation costs, lower carbon footprints and 100% recyclability!
Over the years, we’ve seen numerous innovations regarding paper wine bottles and can expect more global brands to adopt them as well!
In fact, did you know Johnnie Walker Black currently uses a paper-based bottle to package its whiskey? Find out more here!
boxed wine
Last but not least, although boxed wines are really popular today, did you know they were first created in 1965!?
Originally invented by the Australian winemaker, Thomas Angove, boxed wine was really difficult to handle!
People who bought the box wine had to take the bag out of the box and snip a corner to get at the wine, then struggle to stuff the bag back inside its box. In fact, in some cases, people would try to seal the bag with paper clips!
Nowadays, that’s not the case! Boxed wine gained a lot of popularity in the Australian wine market, followed by Europe and now North America!
With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home orders, boxed wine sales have actually surged across the world.
Boxed wines offer a lot of advantages! For one, they last for up to a month, in contrast to a bottle that, once opened, has a very limited shelf life. So consumers can have one glass on a given night and not worry about preserving what’s left.
Of course there’s also a convenience factor because a 3L boxed wine contains the same contents as 4 wine bottles. This helps save on transportation costs! In addition, both the outer box and the bag are 100% recyclable!
the future of wine packaging
In summary, wine packaging originally started out as a clay flasks and glass bottles, but has quickly evolved into an innovative industry featuring sustainable and cost-effective alternatives! These include lightweight flat bottles, paper bottles, boxed and canned wines!
Nonetheless, there’s a lot of ongoing effort being put into creating packaging from biodegradable materials as well! In turn, it’s really exciting to see more brands adopt an eco-friendly approach to wine packaging!
On that note, whether you currently offer canned wines, greener glass bottles, paper bottles or even boxed wine, LeKAC Sourcing can help you customize your packaging to build brand loyalty!
Check out our wine catalogue and you’ll see we offer a variety of eco-friendly accessories, bags, carriers and even boxed wine!
Don’t see what you’re looking for? Don’t hesitate to reach out! If we can’t produce it, we’ll try to source it to meet your needs!
Contact us today for a free consultation!
