The wine market is riding a wave of popularity and new packaging formats are lifted along with it. In  terms of popularity, demand for wine packaging in the U.S. is forecast to reach $2.9 billion in 2019, with an increase of 4.4% annually, according to a recent report from The Freedonia Group (Cleveland, OH). Growth will benefit from steady, favorable gains in domestic wine consumption and production and increases in disposable personal income among Millennials (according to Wikipedia, most researchers and commentators use birth years ranging from the early 1980s to the early 2000s). Another contributing factor is that, in the U.S., wine is becoming a common staple during meals at home rather than a beverage ordered out at restaurants or special events.

While glass is still the dominant packaging preference, it will continue to lose market share to a wide range of alternative package formats. In addition to bag-in-box packaging, other containers that are growing in popularity include plastic bottles, plastic cups and goblets, aseptic cartons, pouches and cans, due to performance features, product differentiation capability, and appeal to younger consumers, who are less attached to wine traditions than traditionalists and wine connoisseurs.

Single-serve seeing strong growth

Wine containers are rapidly diversifying in terms of package formats and sizes. The fastest growth for containers will fall outside the typical 750-ml size, including both smaller- and larger-sized offerings. Single-serving wine packaging will see strong advances, driven by their advantage of enabling wine to be taken to or sold in places that typically don’t allow glass containers. Also, single-serving containers enable wine to compete with beer in venues such as stadiums, theaters, concert halls and theme parks. Single-serving containers for wine include plastic bottles, aseptic cartons, cans, and cups and goblets, with cups and goblets are predicted to post the fastest gains, although from a small base.

One example of this new wave of wine packaging is Sileni Nano, from New Zealand winery Sileni Estates (shown above), which launched an award-winning wine in single-serve, shatterproof packaging. Touted as the ideal partner to events, festivals and outdoor lifestyles, Sileni Nano’s 100% recyclable, all-in-one wine bottle with a clip-on plastic drinking cup is the first of its kind in the marketplace.

The Nano wine is offered in five varietals and is packaged in a 187ml PET bottle that replicates the shape of a full-size bottle and features a plastic, screw-on cap. The product is the result of a joint venture between Sileni and French wine bottler Paul Sapin.

You can view the entire 9-product slideshow at the website of our sister publication, Plastics Today.