Cheers to bag-in-box wine

People love wine. So much so, in fact, that when you combine the top five countries, the annual amount of wine drank weighs more than the Eiffel Tower. What is one way to make wine more sustainable and affordable? Box it!

Bag-in-boxes are ideal packages for table wines that don’t need to age. In a bag-in-box package, wine stays fresh for up to six weeks as the remaining wine has no contact with the outside air, so there’s no hurry to drink it all in one sitting once it’s open. As an added benefit, consumers don’t need a corkscrew to open their boxed wine. No need to worry about a broken cork. 

As wine producers look to reduce their carbon footprint, it is prudent to substitute bottled wine with more eco-friendly and lighter bag-in-box wine. The top wine producing countries do not match up one-for-one with the top wine drinking countries, meaning the wine on your table likely took a long journey to get there. Compared to bottled wine, boxed wine lessens environmental and financial costs of transportation. The lightweight packaging of bag-in-box wine also reduces packaging waste compared to heavier wine bottles. 

Box wine sales continue to grow across a broad customer base - including millennials. In recent years, cabernet, chardonnay and pinot grigio have experienced the most significant growth. 

It’s easy to see why boxed wine is growing in popularity. Being lighter, the box is more easily transported for an array of outdoor activities, generally holds more wine and isn’t breakable. And for the eco-conscious consumer, it has a lower carbon footprint. Bag-in-box wine is not a new trend, but the market is fresh and growing.  

¹ “Drink Outside the Box”, New York Times