A British wine importer has moved to allay concerns over the quality of wines sold in aluminium cans after launching an award-winning sauvignon blanc in a Rexam can.

 

Guy Anderson Wines, based in Somerset, used this week's London International Wine Fair to unveil Cancan, a French white wine that has been named among the top new products of 2008 and is to be sold in a 250ml can.

 

Guy Anderson Wines associate marketing director Howard Price told Packaging News said that the can's design showed that the company was marketing Cancan as a serious wine rather than a cheap alternative.

 

"The can resembles a traditional wine label - it shows the vintage, the type, the food it can be eaten with on the back, a photo. It's being presented as a proper wine."

 

Price said that the can was ideal for young and fresh white and rosé wines that were fermented in steel vats, as well as for sparkling wines. However, he said that they would not be suitable for wines that were treated in, for instance, oak barrels.

 

He also said that there were advantages in terms of serving sizes and wastage as the can holds a quantity of around two small glasses of wine.

 

The launch came as Rexam focuses its wine-in-can efforts on the UK. The company is expecting to sell 40m-50m cans to the wine business in Austria and Germany and it is hoping to recreate that market in the UK.

 

Rexam category development manager Irene Martinez, who is responsible for selling cans to categories outside of the standard soft drink and beer categories, said that talks are being held with both retailers and wine companies with a view to developing the market in the UK.

 

"This is not a competition with bottles - it is creating a new market," she said. "Cans work for younger consumers, or for drinking on picnics, at festivals and so on."

 

Martinez added that the growth in drinking occasions outside of pubs and bars also favoured the introduction of the can as a wine container.

 

"Consumers are making the choice to consume at home or on-the-go and packaging wine in cans targets these occasions perfectly," she said.