New Bag-In-Box Options: from cubes to tubes
By Tina Caputo · May 1, 2006
Chef Daniel Boulud, sommelier Daniel Johnnes and vintner Dominique Lafon packaged their Dtour French Chardonnay in a tubular package, hoping to evoke a more upscale image.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Just three years ago, quality bag-in-box wines were a rarity in the U.S., and 5L boxes dominated the category. Today it's no longer unusual to find premium varietal wines in bag-in-box format, with 1.5L and 3L sizes entering the market.
- Three-liter bag-in-box wines account for the category's fastest growth, with sales jumping 160% between March 2003 and March 2005, according to ACNielsen data. New shapes, like the Bag-in-Tube and cube-shaped boxes, are creating excitement in the bag-in-box category.
- Aseptic packaging, like Tetra Prisma, is also showing growth in the U.S. market. Environmentally friendly designs and smaller sizes are expanding the category.
It's always interesting to look back at old issues of Wines & Vines (our archives date back to 1920) to see how the industry has changed. In the case of bag-in-box wines, I only had to time-travel to the year 2002 to find the start of a dramatic trend. Just four years ago, quality bag-in-box wines were a rarity, and three brands dominated the market: Franzia, Almaden and Peter Vella. Five-liter boxes were just about the only game in town--at least in the U.S. market--and the emphasis was on price, rather than lifestyle or quality.
Today it's a different story. It's no longer unusual to find premium varietal wines in bag-in-box format, and 5L boxes now share retail shelf space with more petite packages.
"As recently as 2000, only a handful of large domestic wineries, all from California, enjoyed great success in the 5L and 18L market," confirmed Diane Chewning, North American promotions manager for Scholle Corp., packaging supplier for bag-in-box wines. "Today there are many more brands, from regions across the country, that are very successful in bag-in-box in all retail shapes and sizes. In addition to the well-established 5L package, Scholle offers packages in 1.5L, 2L, 3L, 4L and 10L versions."
Three-liter bag-in-box wines account for the category's fastest growth, with sales jumping about 160% between March 2003 and March 2005, according to ACNielsen data. Sales grew by 42.5% during the year ending Sept. 24, 2005, compared with 7% growth for 750ml bottles.
Premium-priced bag-in-box wines have also seen amazing growth. Boxed wines in the highest price category--over $16--accounted for most of the category's growth (24%), while wines in the $12-15.99 price segment accounted for about 17%.
With ever-increasing competition in the premium bag-in-box category, wineries are looking for ways to differentiate themselves through unique designs. From cubes to tubes to "boxes with a view" that let drinkers see how much they've consumed, wineries are offering U.S. consumers an increasing array of bag-in-box options.
Downsizing
As better-quality wines make their way into bag-in-box packaging, container sizes are getting smaller. In addition to compact 3L boxes and cubes, wineries are packaging their products in 1.5L micro-boxes that can literally fit in the palm of your hand.
Trinchero's Wine Cube, sold exclusively at Target stores, is now available in both 3L and 1.5L boxes, supplied by Pacific Southwest Container of Modesto, Calif.
Last summer Kendall-Jackson introduced its own 1.5L bag-in-box wine, The Wine Block, to grocery store shelves. "Response has been overwhelmingly positive in most markets nationwide," says Ryan Kukol, marketing manager for Wine Block Wines. "Consumers continue to be intrigued by the unique packaging and pleasantly surprised by the quality of the wine. Wine Block is leading the charge in the niche premium 1.5L box segment, and we continue to grow nationwide."
According to Bryan Smith, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Pacific Southwest Container, the evolution in bag-in-box design is not just in shapes and sizes, but in graphics. "The big change is in the use of high-end effects, like embossing, debossing and foil stamping. Wineries want a more premium-looking package because they're putting more premium grapes inside the box," Smith says. "Textured coatings that give a 3D effect are already on the market in the East Coast. In the future, we'll see things like interference pigment inks so colors will shift with the reflection of the light. There's really no end to what can be done structurally or graphically these days."
Taking The Edge Off
Edgy bag-in-box design is also available in the form of cylindrical packaging, such as the new Bag-in-Tube® from Smurfit, European producer of bag-in-box packaging. The eye-catching Bag-in-Tube package turned heads last fall with the U.S. launch of Dtour wine, a collaborative effort between vintner Dominique Lafon, sommelier Daniel Johnnes and chef Daniel Boulud. Priced at $37-39 per 3L tube, the 2004 Mâcon-Villages Chardonnay is currently available in Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
"It's all been sold out, everybody's reordering and response has been fabulous," says Johnnes, of Daniel Johnnes Wines in New York. "I've always been intrigued by innovative packaging, and it just seems like the technology on this type of packaging is so good." Johnnes says he was attracted to the tube-shaped package because it helps the brand avoid the traditional box-wine stigma.
"The perception of a box wine has been crappy wine," he says. "The reason for the tube shape was to assist me in overcoming this obstacle. If you change the shape, maybe people will be a little less resistant to it."
Johnnes and his partners produced the equivalent of 1,800 9L cases of the 2004 vintage, and the trio plans to double production with the 2005 vintage to meet worldwide demand for the wine. Dtour's distribution will expand into new U.S. markets this year.
Smurfit, producer of the Bag-in-Tube, offers the package in four sizes: 1.5L, 3L, 5L and 10L. Its outer label can include a wide range of design effects, including metallic, iridescent and holographic finishes, as well as embossing and foil blocking. The Bag-in-Tube's tinplate lids and bases can be produced in any color to further enhance the product's shelf appeal. A carry handle can also be attached. (For more information, visit smurfitkappa.com.)
New Sizes And Shapes For Aseptic Packaging
Bag-in-box packaging isn't the only glass alternative that's expanding its presence in the U.S. wine market with intriguing shapes, sizes and designs.
Boisset's new line of French Rabbit wines is packaged in an aseptic wine carton called the ePod, an environmentally friendly 1L Tetra Prisma® container. The octagonal-shaped ePods are printed with the tagline, "Savor the wine/save the planet," along with text explaining that the package is 100% recyclable, reduces packaging waste by 93% and costs 83% less to recycle compared with glass. Available in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, the vintage-dated, appellation-specific French wines sell for $9.99, with distribution set for 30 states.
According to Jean-Charles Boisset, president of Boisset America, the company's mission is to be the market leader of quality wine in innovative and environmentally friendly packaging.
The French Rabbit wines were launched in Canada last summer, packaged in both glass bottles and Tetra Prisma containers. After one month in the marketplace, sales for the Tetra Prisma wines totaled 3,061 cases, while sales of the same wine in glass bottles reached just 142 cases.
The French Rabbit packaging features vibrant fluorescent colors (a different one for each varietal), orange screwtop closures and whimsical graphics of rabbits and carrots.
Three Thieves' 250ml Tetra Prisma®-packaged Bandit wines are sold in four-packs and easily slip into a pocket, purse or backpack.
Three Thieves, irreverent producer of wines in mini-jugs and Tetra Brik packaging, have added two 250ml Tetra Prisma wines to its line-up: Bandit Pinot Grigio and Bandit Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines are sold in four-packs, retail priced at $8.99. As with Boisset's ePods, the Bandit packaging touts its environmental friendliness, declaring that it is "made largely of renewable resources and reduces packaging waste by 90% compared to glass wine bottles."
The growth of carton-packaged wine has skyrocketed in the last 20 years, reaching more than 2 billion liters worldwide in 2005, according to Tetra Pak (tetrapak.com), the world's largest supplier of aseptic carton packaging for the wine industry. While the biggest markets for aseptic cartons like Tetra Brik and Tetra Prisma are Europe and South America, the U.S. market is becoming more receptive to this type of packaging.
"Wines in boxes of all shapes and sizes, from bag-in-box to Tetra Pak, are driving a volume shift in the amount of wine consumed in the U.S.," says Paige Poulos, president of Paige Poulos Communications and founder of the Alliance for Innovative Wine Packaging (AIWP). The small Tetra Paks are also taking wine into new venues, creating changing consumer expectations for where and when they can enjoy a great glass of wine."