My short answer is , ‘NO!’ The idea strikes me as the ultimate in tradition desecration for the sake of the ultimate in convenience. But it seems the younger generation that’s driving consumer demand, is demanding that just about everything they drink come in single-serving containers…
Fast Food and ‘Fast Booze’: The new normal?
The London Telegraph says Canned Wine is on track to be one of the biggest beverage trends of 2019, and it’s already a (US)$45 million per year business in Europe. The Telegraph quotes French winemakers as saying they’re putting high-quality wines in cans, not Pop wines. And there are many North American Winemakers who are following the trend.
Show a millennial a bottle opener and they won’t know what it is. All they’ve ever known are twist-off caps and pull tabs. And now, it seems, the generation that’s driving consumer demand, the younger folks, is making it clear that they want their beverages in single serving containers, too. This makes sense, when you consider the go-everywhere, do everything orientation of the kids who are now coming into their majority. But I have doubts about the affects this trend may have on the products and on society.
Lowering the bar…
The Wine segment has already spun-off Wine Coolers to the Pop-Booze segment, and the floor is already low enough in other categories of Alcoholic Beverages, with Liquor Coolers, Hard Sodas, and ‘Hard’ Fruit Drinks. Must we let descent Wines slide down that slippery slope? I guess it was destined to happen. But it worries me.
One ‘quality’ issue I foresee is claims that cans change the flavour of Wines. Maybe not all, but some. Folks still claim that canned Soft Drinks don’t taste the same as bottles ones. We’ll have to wait and see on that one.
Social issues…
I’ve long thought that selling Booze of any kind other than Beer in single serving packages is a bad idea, in general. Canned Wines currently sell for anywhere from (C)$4 to (C)$9 a can. That’s pricey enough to deter some folks from overindulging. But others will simply equate canned Wines with other canned beverages, such as Beer and Soft Drinks – and gulp them down the same way.
According to the Telegraph article, wine marketers claim single-serving cans of Wine will help discourage binge drinking, by limiting servings. That is, they say kids will think twice before popping another tab. I think today’s affluent big-spending Millennials will overlook the cost when seeking to maximize their experience. And cheap Canned Wines that go down like Soda Pop will just encourage people to drink more and drink recklessly. Not to mention encouraging them to develop a taste for crappy, tinny-tasting Wine.
The pollution angle…
Let’s look at the pollution problems inherent in putting yet another mass-market beverage in disposable, albeit recyclable, packaging. The situation could be worse; they could be plastic bottles rather than aluminum, cans. But as recycling-conscious as we are as a society, a significant portion of beverage cans still make their way into the landfills. An underlying effect, here, is that the proliferation of single-serving containers subtly reinforces the idea that ‘throw away’ is acceptable. Alas, single-serving containers are, in some markets, already the norm. We should be encouraging people to buy Alcoholic Beverages more responsibly, in multi-serving contains where possible. Folks who wouldn’t dream of just tossing a 2 L Soft Drink bottle wouldn’t think twice about tossing a 355 ml can.
Some single-serving beverages will remain – for vending machine sales, lunchbox packing and so on. But they should not be the norm. I agree with those who say any cans used to package all types of Alcoholic Beverage should be subject to a refund for returning them for recycling, like Beer and Wine Bottles. This is already the case in some progressive jurisdictions, but they are still a small minority.
~ Maggie J.