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Portable, stackable single-serve wine launched

More than a gimmick, Stacked Wines’ new single-serve PET packaging uses proprietary technology to deliver convenience, a longer shelf life, and a premium wine-drinking experience.

Pw 43432 Stacked1

Over the past several years, a number of new packaging formats have been introduced for wine that depart from the traditional glass bottle. Among these have been innovations in aluminum cans, liquid cartons, PET bottles, and even pouches. Some of the packages have been developed to offer a single-serve solution, while others provide greater portability and allow consumers to enjoy wine in venues where glass is a less convenient option. Many times, however, consumers perceive these products as subpar-quality wines.  

In March 2012, Newport Beach, CA-start up Stacked Wines, LLC launched a portable, single-serve PET wine package backed by more than 18 months of product and package engineering that provides both quality and convenience. Packaging for STACKED®, which comprises four interlocking, stackable stemless PET wine glasses bundled in an eye-catching shrink-sleeve label, uses proprietary technology to provide up to a 14-month shelf life, a sophisticated drinking experience, and a supply chain-friendly footprint.

The line’s three California wine varietals—Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, and Merlot—are also said to have been created by the company’s in-house sommelier with light and refreshing flavor profiles designed to match the casual venues in which they are meant to be enjoyed.

“This is not just a packaging concept,” confirms Jodi Wynn, co-founder and vice president of marketing and business operations for Stacked Wines. “It’s a premium wine that offers convenience. We don’t see this as just a novelty; we see it as an improved way to package premium wine.”

Enabling technology developed
The STACKED wine concept was the inspiration of company CEO Matt Zimmer, who came up with the idea back in mid-2010. An MBA student at the University of California, Irvine, at the time, Zimmer had his “Voila!” moment after he suffered through some stale wine from a bottle that had been opened several nights earlier. Having a mechanical engineering and packaging background, Zimmer believed there had to be a better way to package wine in smaller servings to keep it fresh. “He literally drew a bottle of wine and put four lines through it,” Wynn recalls.

Over the next year and a half, Zimmer, along with fellow MBA students Wynn and Doug Allan, a sommelier and certified wine educator, developed the packaging technology and flavor profiles for STACKED. Wynn explains that being able to tap into the resources of the university proved a great advantage for the Stacked Wine co-founders. “The school really helped in both guiding us and putting us in touch with the correct people,” she says. “I think we avoided some of the challenges that other start ups might face because we had so much guidance.”

The co-founders also employed the technical and beverage specific expertise of R&D/Leverage, which offers both structural brand development and mold manufacturing capabilities, to develop the structure. Says Zimmer, "R&D/Leverage was highly recommended by an industry source. We needed expertise into how to commercialize our vision. And with so many launches in our industry, time was of the essence, since we compete against standard bottles wines and boxes wines, which are increasingly popular.

"As a start up, with limited capital and a new concept, we needed to get into production fast and have the design and tooling right—the first time. R&D/Leverage proved to be a great partner to work with, and they delivered on all counts."

Central to the STACKED wine concept is a proprietary technology called Vinoware™. Vinoware combines packaging constructed of oxygen-barrier PET, with a filling and sealing process that eliminates oxygen from the package headspace and ensures a vacuum seal, enabling a 12- to 14-month shelf life. Putting this advancement in context, Wynn explains that “very few wines in PET packaging have a shelf life longer than three to six months.”

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