Wine from a can - a trend soaring in popularity internationally - is gaining "can do" acceptance in New Zealand.
Cath Hopkin, co-founder and managing director of Joiy Wines, says the trend has been especially apparent since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic – with the company experiencing a large uplift in sales of canned wine through retail and online channels since the first lockdown 18 months ago.
"Last year our sales in New Zealand were up 69 per cent," she says. "The year before they were up 50 per cent so, in the last two years, we've had well over a 100 per cent rise."
As the country's leading producer of wine in a can, Joiy has also established strong sales in Canada and Australia and has just entered the lucrative US market. A shipment of 2200 cases of one of their latest product, Pineapple and Lime seltzers, left several weeks ago; Hopkin says more will be following soon while the canned hard seltzers will also be sold in groceries and select retailers, restaurants and cafes throughout New Zealand.
"The United States is the home of canned wine. Their supermarkets have whole aisles of shelves stocked with wine in cans and it is a real feather in our cap to be accepted in that market."
Research conducted in the US by NielsenIQ Beverage Alcohol Practice, an organisation tracking off-premises sales of alcoholic beverages, shows the number of canned wine brands in America has jumped from 68 in 2017 to 235 today.
The organisation's senior vice president, Danelle Kosmal, said recently in an article published in the Los Angeles Times that sales have leapt since the start of the pandemic: "At the start (of the pandemic) canned wine accounted for 0.7 per cent of wine sales but now that has increased to 1.2 per cent."
Hopkin believes a similar picture will emerge here: "New Zealand is a couple of years behind the US, but Kiwis are open to new ideas and, while the pandemic has resulted in a large uplift, people have also become more familiar with the idea of drinking wine from a can.
"Research in the US tells us there is no significant age, gender or wine knowledge differences in can purchases and I think the same is true in New Zealand."
She says wine in a can is, however, becoming more popular among young people because of its convenience. "They grew up with canned drinks of all kinds, they are more mobile, don't do dinner parties so much and value the portability of cans."
Joiy's canned products include a sparkling white, a sparkling rose, pinot gris, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and pinot noir – plus a range of seltzers with a new cocktail range to be launched soon.
"Cans are slender, the wine can be consumed anywhere with no fuss," she says. "Traditionally Kiwis have bought wine in a bottle but in most cases that means we are restricted about where we drink it and at what occasions. A bottle of wine doesn't fit in your handbag, but a couple of cans do."
Hopkin says each can contains just one to two glasses which she believes is a significant health factor for younger Kiwis: "We are finding they are more conscious of the amount they consume and why would they bother to open a bottle if all they want is a glass or two?"
The Joiy range of wines is one of the most popular in Canada. Hopkin believes their success there is not just down to the quality of the wines and the flow-on effect from popularity in the US, but also to the Canadian habit of shopping daily for their evening drinks.
"They pop into a liquor store on the way home and grab a couple of cans of beer or wine to have with their dinner," she says.
Joiy has won a number of international awards including three gold medals at this year's International Canned Wine Competition in California, an event that attracted over 300 wines from around the world.
Joiy co-founder Chris Archer has been winemaking since he was 17. Hopkin says Joiy was an idea borne out of frustration with the wine industry: "We had a mission to make wine accessible to all people for all occasions, not restricting it to 'on-the-table' and the sometimes daunting prospect of opening a full standard bottle," she says. "We also wanted to de-mystify the wine industry and its 'wine-speak' by showing it to be fun."
Based in Martinborough, what began as a boutique local operation has turned into a global brand – and Hopkin says Joiy was the first wine-maker in New Zealand to produce wine in cans and the first to export canned wine.
The company has a strong commitment to sustainability. "Cans have a much smaller carbon footprint than bottles, are recyclable and eco-friendly with less storage and lighter shipping requirements," says Hopkin.
Hopkin says technology in the lining of cans has radically improved and now offers the same protection to wine that glass does while, unlike glass, cans don't suffer from light strike.
For more information: joiy.co.nz