Looking Back, Forging Ahead Q&A: Jack Green, Vinca

By Harpers Editorial

Published: 06 December, 2023

Following another eventful year for the drinks trade Jack Green, co-founder of canned wine company Vinca, reflects on the highs and lows of 2023, plus hopes and plans for the year ahead, in our annual Q&A series.

How has business been for you across 2023 when compared with 2022 (and pre-pandemic)?

Canned wines are going from strength to strength and we're seeing more and more businesses champion the format, particularly in the travel and event sector. This year our business has, quite literally, taken to the skies. We launched our award-winning canned Organic Pale Rosé on British Airways, won some big new listings and had great fun at all of the festivals and events throughout the year. We are excited for what 2024 has to offer for Vinca.

What, for you, were the specific highs of 2023?

Too many, but taking a flight with British Airways to Sicily, where we source the wines for Vinca, and being served our own rosé was a real highlight. Also, our cans being served at Glastonbury Festival and hitting the shelves at Co-op East of England were some real highlights of the year.

And the lows?

It's hard to look back at 2023 and not talk about the biggest duty hike in 50 years. Whilst it wasn't a problem unique to our business, it's still hard to justify when margins are already being squeezed and we're trying to remain competitive.

More specifically, how has the cost-of-living crisis impacted and what have you done to help mitigate the effects for you and your customers?

There is no denying that people aren't spending as much on nights out and weekends away. This is why we have worked really hard on our supply chain to make it as efficient and cost-effective as possible. We have actually found our direct-to-consumer website increased in sales over the last three months. We were interested in why this was, so we picked up the phone and rang some of our customers. Some of them said they were feeling the squeeze, so instead of opening up a whole bottle, they preferred to have our cans, so they were drinking less and saving money by not opening a whole bottle.

How much of a concern are the duty hikes, will you have to alter the way you do business moving forward?

As I mentioned, this challenge isn't unique to our business – we're all in the same boat! It's all about open communication and careful planning, ensuring that any price changes aren't a sudden surprise for our customers. While we considered using lower abv wines to save costs, we are committed to producing wines of the highest quality. De-alcoholising, in our view, resulted in a loss of flavour and mouthfeel, and we felt it didn't align with the high standards that we hold ourselves to at Vinca. We will keep working on this with our winemaker to hopefully launch something great next year.

As a business, what goals have you set for 2024 and how do you expect to achieve them?

We're still in hungry start-up mode and have set some pretty punchy goals for 2024. We have already won some big contracts for 2024 and we want to build off that with more accounts in the retail, travel and event sectors as our main focus. We will achieve this by remaining consistent with our core values which is to put award-winning, exceptional organic wine in cans that are competitively priced.

More generally, in terms of business, how do you predict the drinks landscape will look this time next year?

There's a significant focus on the ever-growing low & no category, but I believe the more noteworthy trend is the 'drink less, drink better' movement. This shift has been evident across both on and off-trade sectors this year, as consumers upgrade to organic and premium choices.

Another consumer-driven trend we're observing is increased scrutiny on packaging, particularly directed at single-use plastic. Retailers, such as Waitrose, have taken the lead by replacing all single-serve plastic and glass bottles with canned wines. In 2023, the European canned wine market has surged to 299 million cans, with growth rates surpassing those of wine bottles. Organic wine is also experiencing significant sales growth, with Majestic reporting a 22% year-over-year increase.

I believe Vinca, being an organic canned wine, is well-positioned to contribute to the advancement of both these categories and assist consumers and retailers in making sustainable choices.

Quick fire questions:

Go to Christmas tipple?

Vinca Organic Red

And New Year?

MOTH's French 75

Fire-side drinks or out on the town?

Out on the town on Christmas eve, fireside drinks on Christmas Day

Rioja or Mendoza?

Rioja

Orange wine – yay or nay?

Yay!

Dry January or Try January?

Drink less but drink better January!