I came across a very insightful post by Rochelle Fainstein of Sterling Brands on the growing trend towards the use of aluminum bottles for packaging wine. (Click here to see the entire post).
Ms. Fainstein points out some powerful arguments for the use of aluminum including
“the longest shelf life at 2 years on average, the ability to be cooled 5x faster than other materials, the availability of a wide range of shapes and sizes, and no U/V damage to the product. Removable liners maintain the freshness of the wine in aluminum bottles and the elimination of paper labels with direct-to-bottle graphics and printing not only creates less waste, but also allows for some graphically stunning design results.”
Aluminum bottles are certainly starting to prove their worth in many aspects of the value chain, from production to marketing.
Perhaps the single factor limiting further growth and acceptance is the limited awareness of the advantages of using aluminum bottles among consumers and companies. Hopefully this will change with the arrival of a breakthrough product that can really capture the imagination of consumers. When that happens, there will surely be a lot more products in aluminum bottles in supermarket shelves.
