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The ProWein Business Report 2022 has published the largest survey to date on the acceptance of alternative wine containers. Around 2,500 producers, wine merchants, importers, distributors, restaurateurs and hoteliers from 16 countries stated which alternatives to glass bottles they believe consumers are most likely to accept. Overall, every second retailer surveyed expects consumers to accept bag-in-box as a wine container. However, there were clear regional differences.
In the group of innovators, which includes the Scandinavian countries, Great Britain and Canada, 75 to 100 per cent of retailers are prepared to sell wine containers other than glass bottles. In these countries, alternative packaging is already an integral part of the product range, as the population is particularly favourable towards sustainability goals. Monopoly markets such as those in Scandinavia and Canada are already demanding alternatives to glass bottles from their suppliers in order to reduce the environmental impact. Bag-in-boxes and cans dominate the popularity scale there. More than a third of respondents believe that the majority of everyday wines will no longer be bottled in glass in the near future.
In the middle group, the willingness lies between 55 and 75 per cent. This group includes France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal and the USA. Here too, bag-in-boxes and cans are considered to have the best chances of acceptance, followed by PET bottles, kegs for catering establishments and paper-based bottles.
The group of "latecomers" in the study includes Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the Netherlands and Italy. Here, the willingness of retailers is below 55 per cent. In the German-speaking countries in particular, the majority of retailers are clearly sticking to glass bottles. Due to the restrained demand from retailers for bottle alternatives, it is more difficult for the often smaller producers here to achieve economically sufficient quantities for alternatives to glass. They are also closely tied to bottle shapes due to existing filling systems and are limited in their flexibility. It would be easiest for them to find alternatives that are compatible with their filling systems.
According to the survey, the most important success factor is intensive communication with consumers. This is only possible if the retailers themselves are convinced of the prospects of success for alternatives to glass bottles. Producers will only invest in new bottling plants if there is a correspondingly high demand and purchase commitments from retailers.
Experts estimate that the energy required for the production and transport of glass bottles accounts for up to 40 per cent of the CO2 footprint of wine.
(al / Source: ProWein Business Report)