Sparkling idea to diversify into seltzer
AUCKLAND: The seltzer craze originated with spirits, it has expanded into beer, and now the popular sparkling alcoholic beverage is making a foray into wine.
Villa Maria is gearing up to launch what it believes is New Zealand's first wine seltzer, a range of fruitflavoured products made with rose, sauvignon blanc and pinot gris as a base.
Defined as alcoholic sparkling water containing fruit flavouring, seltzers are typically distilled with sugar cane or a spirit as an alcohol base, resulting in a drink with less sugar, and fewer carbohydrates and calories. However, the drinks can be made with any alcohol base, and beer seltzers have recently started flooding the market.
Seltzers are hugely popular in the United States and drinks companies believe this will flow through to Australasia as consumers continue to move away from traditional sugarlaced alcoholic beverages.
Villa Maria, which owns wine labels Villa Maria, Esk Valley, Leftfield, Vidal and Thornbury, will next month launch its LF Wine Seltzers under its experimental wine brand Leftfield. It says its product is one of a few to launch globally.
But, unlike beer or ciderbased seltzers, wine seltzer cannot be sold in supermarkets.
The New Zealand Alcohol Beverages Council explained that once wine was mixed with anything else but wine it was technically no longer a wine under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
Wine cannot be anything other than the product of fermented grapes.
Seltzers are perceived to be healthier than traditional readytodrink beverages (RTDs) and seem to be a buzzword within the industry right now.
According to Nielsen, RTDs at present hold the secondhighest share of liquor after beer, and the category is growing at more than double the rate. RTDs account for 27% of all alcohol sales.
Villa Maria head of marketing Sarah Szegota said the development of a wine seltzer was led by consumer demand as healthconscious millennials moved to reduce their sugar intake and drink less frequently.
Ms Szegota said innovation was key to stay competitive in a crowded market and Villa Maria Group was working on other developments within its wine brands.
Villa Maria acquired Leftfield Wines in 2012, which had been working on the seltzer product over the past 10 months.
‘‘Demand for our wines remain strong — we're shipping 13% more cases than expected this year — but as the market evolves it's important that we evolve with it,’’ Ms Szegota said.
‘‘We see a big opportunity here for wine seltzers as a global demand for natural lowsugar, lowcalorie drinks and that has seen the seltzer market explode, particularly in the US, and New Zealand is not far behind.’’
LF Wine Seltzer goes on sale at liquor stores and onpremise venues from next week, and would roll out internationally from early 2021.
NZ Alcohol Beverages Council executive director Bridget MacDonald said wine and spiritbased seltzers could not be sold in New Zealand supermarkets because once they were mixed with anything else such as fruit flavouring or sparkling water they were no longer regarded as a wine or spirit.
Ms MacDonald said the food standards code was not designed with innovation within the alcoholic beverage market in mind.
‘‘It is not uncommon for product development to outstrip regulations. What tends to happen is that new products are developed, but regulations are more conservative and slower to catch up.
‘‘There is an opportunity to consider how lower alcohol and ‘better for me' beverages can be made more available as a choice for consumers,’’ Ms MacDonald said. — The New Zealand Herald
❛ Demand for our wines remain strong — we're shipping 13%
more cases than expected this year —
but as the market evolves it's important that we evolve with it.
We see a big opportunity here for wine seltzers as a global demand for natural low
sugar, lowcalorie drinks and that has seen
the seltzer market explode, particularly in the US, and New Zealand is not far
behind