Creating the Wine Experience w/ NA Wines w/ Duncan Shouler, Giesen 0%

With the health and wellness and moderation trends booming, the non-alcoholic wine market has been growing quickly off a small base. Launched in 2019, the Giesen 0% range has solidified its position as one of the leaders in the NA wine market. Duncan Shouler, Director of Innovation, explains how the 0% range was developed, the critical elements of non-alcoholic wine, the current market conditions, and what it will take for the non-alcoholic wine market to succeed.

Detailed Show Notes: 

Duncan’s background - was in marine biology and shifted to wine ~20 years ago

Giesen - family owned, 40 years old, large winery (crushes ~20k tons/year), a broad range of wines from large scale to single vineyard

Started non-alcoholic (“NA”) range 5 years ago (2019)

• ~17% of production today, growing
• Has a more significant reach and impact on the market vs. regular wines

The creation of the NA range came from a fitness challenge in 2019, when he could not drink alcohol for 1 month and discovered there were no good choices in the NA space. Spinning cone technology (good for quality as it uses lower temps than other processes) also became available in NZ at that time

NA winemaking process - create regular wine, then remove alcohol; for red wine, you need to balance the tannins (need ripe, soft tannins)

More expensive to make - costs 15-20% more

• Need to replace ~25% of volume
• Need to go through spinning cone technology
• Lower cost from no alcohol excise taxes

NA taste - loses some of alcohol’s texture, body, heat

NA wines age similarly to regular wine (except in cans)

NA wine markets - still in growth mode, needs higher quality wines to succeed

• The US is ahead of most markets, and the UK is slower with more traditional drinkers
• Mainland Europe is booming, and NZ is behind
• Most off-premise, some growing pains (e.g., Boisson closed its stores), mostly bought where people buy alcohol
• On-premise still embracing category (Giesen launching super premium range to target on-premise)
• Most large players (e.g., Constellation, Treasury) are looking at NA wine

NA wine drinkers - originally abstainers driving growth, now people substituting wine driving growth from moderation trend; broad market from boomers to legal age Gen Z; 35-60 females largest cohort

Price points aligned with regular wine ($9 low end, up to $18/bottle, some products ~$55/bottle)

Removed alcohol of high quality can be used for other things (e.g., gin, biofuel)

NA wines can have up to 0.5% abv, Giesen wines 0.4-0.5% abv

• You need to consume 5 bottles of NA wine to get 1 glass of 13.5% ABV wine
• .45% abv similar to ripe bananas, some fruit juices, bread
• NA wine should still be kept away from children as it is still a wine experience

Marketing NA wines

• Low calorie is significant; Giesen is low in sugar (drives calories), which plays into the health and wellness trend
• Most effective - social media and influencers - play well with Millennial and older Gen Z’s, essential NA wine growth category
• Older consumers know Giesen from regular wine

Nutritional and ingredient labeling - mandatory for regular wine in the EU; NA is a food product and requires it

• Giesen back labels specific for each wine, the main driver of differences are in sugar content
• Nutritional data has some positive elements (e.g., potassium)
• Large serving size (12 ounces, ~½ bottle) driven by US FDA, looking to change back to a 5-ounce glass

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