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Benefits to Restaurants, Wine Bars, Clubs, and Lounges

The Bag-In-Box is no stranger in many restaurants and bars, as many establishments offer and serve house wines, usually a red, white, and pink version. In the old days, California Chablis, California Burgundy, and, slightly more recently, White Zinfandel would all be dispensed from 18 liter Bag-In-Boxes. Nowadays there are varietally named offerings such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot for high-volume and/or casual dining establishments.

Single glasses, half-carafes, and carafes are offered at affordable prices to diners and patrons. In many instances, the brand names of these 18 liter boxed house wines are not published for customers to see, but they comprise the highest volume sales on-premise nationally. Eighteen liter boxed wines offer a high-volume or casual dining restaurant an affordable way to provide servings of wine very profitably.

The per-ounce cost is very low, the Bag-In-Box system dispenses wine while minimizing spoilage and waste, and the boxed wine is flexible to use, from being its own dispenser to hooked up to nitrogen-sparged tap systems and poured like beer or soda. Most fine dining establishments eschew offering generic house wines, instead providing a menu of branded by-the-glass (BTG) offerings poured from bottles (750 mL and 1.5 liter bottles).

Higher quality wines command higher prices and promote the prestige and experience of fine dining. The revolution of the 3 liter fine wine cask offers fine dining establishments, wine bars, and clubs access to the same great benefits of the Bag-In-Box with higher quality wines that customers will enjoy:

• Space-saving shape and size: the standard 3 liter fine wine cask holds the equivalent of four 750-mL bottles in roughly 60% of the same space. Storage, which in most restaurants is at a premium, not to mention in the walk-in and behind the bar, is freed up for other necessities and more supplies.
• Keeps wine fresh for weeks after opening: As wine is poured the Scholle Durashield bag deflates, minimizing air from mixing with the wine and oxidizing it. Every glass is a fresh glass of wine, keeping customers satisfied. Estimates of waste of 2% or more generated by leftover wine oxidizing – added to estimates of 3% to 5% loss due to cork taint – are revenue losses that can be avoided with fine wine casks. Fresher wine means repeat BTG orders!
• Less loss from breakage: no glass and no corks means less breakage and no cork taint or spoilage due to poorly sealed bottles.
• Ease and convenience: fine wine casks are easy to open, reducing staff frustration, and never need to be sealed or gassed to preserve quality.
• Less packaging for more wine equals savings: savings for you or your customers. Per ounce costs from 3 liter fine wine casks can often provide roughly 20% savings compared to the same quality wine from a 750 mL bottle. That is 20% yours to pocket or reward your customers with!

Three liter fine wine casks are the fastest growing packaging segment in the US wine market today, with sales up 44% in 2007. The variety and quality of 3 liter fine wine casks is growing every day, with established, multi-national wineries creating new boxed wines and brands as well as small, boutique wineries from across the U.S.

The 3 liter fine wine cask is ideal for wines priced in the premium, popular-premium, and super-premium categories. These pricing categories are the primary price points for most BTG offerings, putting fine wine casks on par with other similarly priced brands. Press and media have been very favorable towards many of the nationally established fine wine casks, creating customer awareness and acceptance. The latest generation to embrace wine, Millennials, is not only accepting innovative wine packaging, but demanding it in many cases. Quality is no longer strictly the domain of a glass bottle closed with a natural cork in their minds.