PACKWINE speaker to delve into the opportunities for alternative packaging formats

Wine Intelligence country manager for Australia and New Zealand, Ben Luker, says it’s a good time to be thinking about wine packaging formats.

“In a wine category dominated by the ubiquitous 750ml bottle, alternative formats provide an opportunity for producers to tap into drivers that the traditional glass bottle may struggle to deliver on convenience, sustainability, serving sizes, etc.,” he said.

“However, as logical as the case for these formats may be, the probability of success will be limited unless the consumer perceptions of these alternative formats are understood, especially in context with the 750ml bottle.”

In his PACKWINE 2021 webinar presentation, Luker will draw on Wine Intelligence’s research into alternative packaging going back to 2017, to discuss “the awareness, purchase, consideration and affinity rates of casks, wine in cans and different sized glass bottles with comparison to the standard glass bottle.”

“Extensive independent research tells us that consumer behaviour and perceptions are generally deep-rooted with significant effort needed to shift opinions. In a year with so much forced change due to COVID-19, will this create a shift in the usage and perceptions of alternative packaging?”

Luker has gained consumer insight firsthand in the US, UK, Asia, New Zealand and his home country of Australia. He has more than a decade of industry experience working across nearly every aspect of the wine industry, ranging from sommelier roles, independent retail, commercial sales, marketing and winemaking operations. Away from Wine Intelligence, he makes small-scale wines out of Western Victoria under his Good Clean Fun label.

Luker is one of 11 industry speakers who will share their knowledge and expertise at the 2021 PACKWINE Forum & Expo, which this year has the theme of ‘Adapting Packaging to the 21st Century: Innovation and Sustainability’.

In its inaugural year, PACKWINE will be a published and digital event that also includes a trade exhibition featuring leading industry suppliers of packaging products and services. The PACKWINE Design Awards will also be a highlight of this year’s event.

The 2021 PACKWINE Forum & Expo will be published in the May issue of the Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker, the wine industry’s leading publication, while digital content – including the webinar – will be published online.

PACKWINE is presented by Winetitles Media in association with Wine Packagers of Australia & New Zealand, the Australian Institute of Packaging, the University of South Australia’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science and The University of Adelaide.

Register here now for free to be a delegate at PACKWINE 2021.