Cans are the answer to many of the problems posed by wine. On picnics, at festivals and generally on the trot, what are more practical than bottles? Cans! For the carbon-conscious, what have a significantly lower environmental impact than glass? Aluminium cans! And what if, for whatever reason, you don’t want to commit to a full 750ml bottle of wine? Try a can! This small, light and sustainable format is a secret weapon to keep, quite literally, in your back pocket; with cans – wherever you are and whatever you’re doing – drinking wine is always possible. Not to get too Barack Obama about it, but “yes, we can”.
Gen Z are largely behind the recent boom in canned wines, which stands to reason: fewer of them are drinkers and those who are do so only moderately, so a smaller format suits. According to a 2025 survey by Ocado, 53% of them “have been directly influenced by social media to try boxed or canned wine”. This shows in the way those formats are marketed: the peachy-pink can of Nice’s Pale Rosé, for instance, reads, “Won’t shatter on the dancefloor”, while Vinca’s catarratto “pairs well with great company”. A and almost all of them make a point of their recyclable packaging, appealing to the most environmentally-conscious generation to date. (Glass bottles are, after all, consistently found to be one of the largest contributors to wine’s carbon footprint.)
