The single serve

Single-serve wine formats are exploding in popularity, says Liza B. Zimmerman, appearing everywhere from big events to the off-trade.

Danny Brager
Danny Brager

For decades, individual wine formats were tied to airline flights or low-end, off-trade purchases. As the wine market has moved to greater convenience and portability, producers are creating more accessible, recyclable packaging that often comes with its own glass.  

Single-serve formats — such as cans, tetra paks and 187-ml bottles — forged the way for products with disposable wine glasses, such as Copa Di Vino and Zipz, launched in 2010 and 2013 respectively. Sales of both brands were spurred by their appearances on the television show Shark Tank, where brands bid for big-league investment. 

“Suppliers have done a nice job of creating innovative wine packaging that itself looks very much like a wine glass,” said Danny Brager, senior vice president of Nielsen's Beverage Alcohol Practice, of the relatively new package. “For consumers seeking the convenience of a single-serve glass as opposed to a full bottle – something that is portable and can be taken to a variety of indoor and outdoor settings; something that is often recyclable; and something that removes the hassle of a storing a partially consumed bottle — these single-serve options meet those needs.” He said that, within the $13m table wine business that Nielsen measures, across a variety of off-premise channels, the single-serve, 187-ml packages of all types represent more than 2% of the category.  

Moving upwards

The dramatic change in focus on quality in food and beverage programs is proving that “high-quality wine by the glass can be mobile,” said Andrew McMurray, co-founder and wine consultant for Zipz – a producer of single serve containers – and vice president of the one-location Zachys wine retailer in Scarsdale, New York, and the Zachys wine bar at the Mets ballpark, Citi Field. Thankfully the mentality of “check your tastes at the car” is disappearing as a result, he added. 

Producers and industry analysts alike believe that the individual wine serving with a glass format may continue to grow, much like the boxed wine category has, given its convenience and varietal diversity. Top venues for its use include stadiums, beaches and restaurants with limited wine lists. 

The packaging’s demographic, according to J. Henry Scott, the CEO of the New Brunswick, New Jersey-based Zipz Packaging Technologies, “is 70% female and between 35 and 55. Younger people love the convenience.”

The message behind these sleek new packages, according to Molli Martin, a co-owner of The Dalles, Oregon-based Copa Di Vino producer, is “Portability, access, freshness, ease of merchandising, ease of service and portion control.” Copa Di Vino’s seven wine varietals retail for $2.99 a 187-ml glass. She noted that the company has thus far sold more than 20m glasses of wine and is about to launch a 750-ml bottle with its own glass. Their motto is: “If you like the single, buy the album.”

These individual pours, which contain 6.3 ounces (187-ml), are generally priced up to $2.99. The bulk of the wines bottled with individual glasses are also domestic in origin. Sales of the Zipz product, according to Scott, have increased 100% since its 2014 appearance on Shark Tank. The ultimate sales goal for the product is a placement at mega-retailer Costco, although the warehouse club has not yet picked up the brand.  

Filling a need

“These wines seem to appeal most to our customers seeking convenience,” said John Forrest Ales, a spokesperson at the Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart. They carry two brands of canned wines and a wine-in-a-glass brand, Xo, G wine. 

Smaller portions also mean that buyers don’t have to commit to a whole bottle and risk wasting wine or finding it faulty. Most of the packaging seems to hold up well on the shelf. “These wines hold freshness and store very well,” said Ales. McMurray added that Zipz packaging is considered to be a good container for wine for seven to eleven months. 

“For the first time everyone has the ability to have a fresh glass of wine that is portable and re-sealable,” he said about the Zipz format. As a example of big producers jumping on the single-serve bandwagon he notes that as of July 1st of this year Napa Valley producer Beringer will be bottling its wine in a glass and selling it through big-league food service provider’s Aramark’s venues, including Citi Field.

The desire to have a wine experience on the go anywhere and everywhere is key to the success of the single-serve wine category with its own glass. So growing producer production — and consumer support — of this packaging is likely to continue as they help brand wine as a ready-to-drink beverage for any occasion. 

 

 

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