The kegging revolution

Wine in kegs has been the hottest trend in the US recently, but the spread of ‘kegging’ in Europe has been stymied by logistical challenges. Anne Krebiehl MW reports on a Dutch solution that could be a game-changer.

Dispensing wine from a KeyKeg
Dispensing wine from a KeyKeg

The wine industry is no stranger to innovation: the oenological advances of the past 30 years benefit us all. One element of wine, however, is remarkably resistant to change: the bottle. Except for a few enlightened Scandinavian countries, this glass vessel is still considered de rigueur for anything that passes as quality wine. This, however, is likely to change, at least where on-premise sales are concerned.

 
While on-tap wines are a burgeoning trend in the US, where steel kegs are filled, used, tracked and returned for refill in time-honoured brewery style, it is the tracking and returning of the steel kegs that has hitherto hindered the spread of kegged wine in Europe. Some players make this business model work, especially where slightly sparkling Italian wines are concerned. However, an invention by a Dutch packaging specialist seems to be a game-changer. 

The wine keg 

KeyKeg, initially invented for beer and fruit-juice, is a new, disposable, recyclable so-called bag-in-ball container that keeps wine fresh for weeks and dispenses via tap. The propellant gas never touches the wine itself. It makes wine-in-keg possible without the need and cost of tracking, returning and refilling; yet its credentials remain surprisingly green. Concurrently, consumers slowly realise that wine can come in something other than a bottle and still be of exquisite quality.

Public perception, it appears, is ready to take kegged wine on board. Riding on the back of the huge Prosecco wave, sparkling wines on tap have become a popular feature in the European on-trade. While these Glera-based wines cannot legally be called Prosecco, the ease of handling the steel kegs and their similarity to beer kegs have made them an efficient way of serving wines by the glass or as a mixer, keeping the wine in top condition, avoiding wine waste and eliminating empty bottles. Daniel Spinath, director of Frizzenti, which pioneered Glera kegs in the UK explains: “The whole idea is a lot more trade-friendly. It takes up less space and there is no wastage if you want to serve your customer by the glass, a growing market. There also is an environmental benefit. But the whole proposition is effectively to say why can a wine not sit in a keg?” 

Frizzenti kegs are filled in Italy, shipped, tracked and returned for refill, so it’s a full recycle. Right now, Frizzenti are supplying hotels, restaurants and bars, but they have also been successful at music and sporting events selling directly from a remodelled Citroën van, where consumers enthusiastically adopt the idea of fizz on tap. Is the market getting crowded? “We clearly see that others are joining the game. We are very much in favour of the category growing, because it means that the whole awareness around wine-in-keg becomes much higher. We just want to have the most important slice of that cake,” Spinath says. His latest move was to introduce still wines, a market where KeyKegs seem to gain the upper hand.

A prototype of this ‘revolutionary’ container was invented in the 1990s and first aimed at the brewery sector. It was not used for wine until 2008, when Treviso-based Montelvini started experimenting and sold their first KeyKeg wines in 2010. Since then, the product has been constantly refined. Two models, Slimline and Baseline, are available, holding 20 L or 30 L of wine respectively. 

“Our latest Slimline KeyKeg consists of more than 30% recycled material and is 100% recyclable. We are shortly testing a new version which consists of more than 60% of recycled materials,” explains Edwin Dasbach, international sales manager at Lightweight Containers BV, KeyKeg’s manufacturers. His outlook is sanguine: “We expect an increase in turnover between 40% to 50% per annum every year in terms of our wine-based business. Our vision is that the major part of steel kegs will be replaced by one-way kegs within 7 to 14 years,” he declares.

The figures speak for themselves. Dasbach calculates: “If you fill a KeyKeg of 30 L, that’s the equivalent of 40 750ml bottles. Imagine a minimum bottle cost of €0.60 ($0.68) including bottle, closure, labelling plus a box fitting 6 or 12 bottles. Packaging 40 bottles would cost you at least €24.00 ($27.00). In KeyKeg the cost is on average €11.00 – that is the first cost saving. Secondly, transporting wine in bottles is 30% to 40% more expensive than in KeyKegs.” But the real savings are made more indirectly: Less storage space is required, less ullage is wasted, there are time-savings during service, and there are no empty bottles to get rid of. KeyKeg’s website details around 60 wineries in Europe using KeyKeg with a clear cluster in the Veneto – but elsewhere the map shows no big players yet. Dasbach hints that many are still testing the waters.

Will anybody use it?

One of the first to trial KeyKeg in Germany was Joachim Binz of export consultancy Wineconsale in Wiesbaden. Serve quality was his chief concern and he tested intensely, tapping KeyKegs over months: “Even after two months the wine was fresh,” he reports, “that was a huge advantage.” 

He is quick to highlight that wine can be filled into KeyKeg without the customary preservative additions of dimethyl-dicarbonate or sorbic acid for bag-in-box wines. He emphasises that for KeyKeg to succeed quality is key: “We were clear that we did not want to use KeyKeg for entry-level wines. I believe that in the mid-to-upper level of the on-trade KeyKeg could shake things up. Just having a new container for a cheap wine has no future. The future lies in the fact that a KeyKeg is filled with very good wines.” 

While he points out that the tapping itself and the stability of the carton can still be improved, he is happy that, at least for now, the filling of KeyKegs is not yet automated. This prevents high-volume producers from damaging the image. “Quite frankly, I’d rather the product was pioneered by quality wine producers because this way it will be accepted by the right kind of consumer,” Binz confesses. “I think it’s great and really exciting.”

Perhaps it won’t take long for wine producers to take to the keg, because those who have experienced it are positive about it.

“I am passionate about the ecological unsustainability of bottles for wines that are to be drunk now,” says micro-negociant Andrew Nielsen of Le Grappin, Beaune. “It is really quick for me; it brings the shipping and warehousing cost down because you can fit more on a pallet. It’s so much easier to handle them so I can sell them at a better price.”

Winemaker Markus Huber of Traisental in Austria says: “I think that this will be a self-sustaining product where wines are served by the glass.” Willie Lebus, director of UK distribution giant Bibendum PLB Group, agrees: “What’s really interesting is not that KeyKegs exist but what’s going to go into them. For us that’s the most interesting thing. Right now KeyKeg is the only commercially viable product we can use to deliver a flexible wine service arrangement to people who want it.” Public perception is key for this new concept, and Lebus is unequivocal: “I really do think we are looking at a revolution here and we want to be a big player.”

Wine-in-keg is clearly on the cards: it offers new efficiencies and both direct and indirect savings for every stakeholder while consumers will be won over by both quality and green benefits. Look out for the taps appearing near you.

 

 

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