Although wine is, of course, a traditional market in Italy, it has great potential for innovation. Zai has taken the opportunity to push the trend towards canned wines forward, diversifying into a versatile, sustainable packaging format that offers greater opportunities than glass and which fits the company’s dedication to safeguarding the future through a biodiverse circular economy. At the same time, Zai has an original, creative way of telling its story. It has created a vision of a world where, in 2150, wine is no longer available due to a lack of care for the environment. Pollution has ravaged the Earth and only a miracle can bring back the joys of wine to those remaining on the planet.
To bring the brand story to life, Zai Urban Winery has assigned six distinct characters for each of its organic wines, all of whom play a key role in returning wine to the world: DR. CORVINUS, GAMEA MR. BUBBLE, LADY BLENDY and CORK BORG. All wines are available in 250 ml cans.
Five of Zai’s products are vegan. The low alcohol and low-calorie wines are perfectly suited to connoisseurs looking to enjoy their favorite drink that prioritize health and well-being. The premium designs, each featuring a character and using vivid, eye-catching graphics, will also appeal to a younger audience, who invariably also take sustainability into account when making purchasing decisions. Here, metal packaging delivers effortlessly, it being 100% recyclable with zero loss of properties, making it a major contributor to the circular economy.
Highly Innovative Zone
The name Zai is an acronym of Zona Altamente Innovativa (Highly Innovative Zone in English), after the historical industrial area of Verona where the company is based and taps into what it perceives to be an increasingly vegan and organic future. Gabriele Stringa, one of the partners at Zai Urban Winery, said: “We have developed a new way of offering wine while remaining focused on well-being, efficiency, resource management and innovation - values that are the backbone of our production strategy linked to sustainability. Metal packaging is key to this, as it is 100% recyclable with zero loss of properties. We believe beverage cans will be the future as consumers increasingly look to the impact their purchasing decisions have on their personal health and that of the planet. Our partnership with Crown has made this possible, and now our unique story is reaching audiences across the continent as they enjoy our wines."
Veronique Curulla, Marketing and Business Development Director at Crown Bevcan Europe & Middle East, added: “Working with Zai Urban Winery to create these masterpieces in metal packaging has been an inspirational process for us all. Metal is undoubtedly a key component as we look to the future with sustainability in mind and delivers many practical benefits. Metal does not alter the taste of the wine inside, for example, and the ability to deliver a single-serve portion means there is no need to open a full bottle when only one glass is wanted. It helps promote responsible consumption and can be easily transported and enjoyed in a wide variety of situations – such as on the beach, at picnics or outdoor events, for example.”
Each can features a QR Code that sends consumers to the winery website. Once there, they can access details about the provenance of the wine and read the story behind this exciting brand. The new line of wines is available in the hospitality and retail outlets across Italy, Ireland, Germany, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, U.K. and Israel.
About Crown Holdings, Inc.
Crown Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, is a leading global supplier of rigid packaging products to consumer marketing companies, as well as transit and protective packaging products, equipment and services to a broad range of end markets. World headquarters are located in Yardley, Pennsylvania.
