Canned wine trio toast growing success of lockdown business

Vinca Wine - launched by Framlingham childhood friends and ex-Thomas Mills High School Charlie Vass, Jack Green and Zac Walters - will be among a rich array of producers exhibiting at this year's Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival on September 24 and 25.

"We'd had three very different careers before deciding we all wanted to launch our own business and agreeing that our skill sets complemented each other well," explained Charlie.

Vinca canned wine in a cold box (Image: Zakary Walters)

Head of wine Jack worked as a wine buyer for 10 years, Charlie was head of sales for a tech company and Zak was working as a photographer and designer for creative agencies.

Jack was aware of the canned wine trend boom in the US before landing in the UK. He had travelled the world tasting and buying wines for many years and had a particular interest in the wines of north west Sicily, which he considers one of the most forward-thinking wine producing regions, championing organic and sustainable processes.

He felt the quality of the canned wine that he tasted was often a secondary consideration and that there should be more emphasis on quality.

He decided to launch a business and recruited his two childhood friends to come onboard as head of sales and head of brand. What started as a "side hustle" quickly became a full-time job as the business grew, and the trio decided to take the plunge and leave their careers during lockdown.

Having launched the wine brand last year, they sold out of their first batch within a month and are now up to their third batch and the cans can now be found in bars, restaurants, music festivals and cinemas across the UK.

Vinca is a sustainable wine business, explained Zac. Its mission statement is to focus on the quality and origin of its wines to bring the best possible products to customers.

The organic Sicilian wine is served from 100% recyclable cans, which are made from up to 74.5% recycled content, he said. They offset their shipping by planting trees and print labels on recycled paper made from grapes.

The Vinca team - Zak Walters, Charlie Vass and Jack Green _ at Heveningham Hall (Image: Zakary Walters)

The threesome tend to work remotely as all the logistics happen with partners, explained Charlie, who splits his time between Cratfield in Suffolk and the company's registered office in London.

"Our wine is canned before being shipped to the UK. This also means that we can sell cans directly into EU countries without shipping the stock to the UK, paying duty here, and then shipping back into the EU," explained Charlie.

They have focused on making the business as sustainable as possible, he added.

"We'd learnt how much carbon was produced by the wine industry in packaging and transport and wanted to do something about it. We launched Vinca in recycled aluminium 187ml cans - a quarter of a standard wine bottle.

"Shipping in this way has a much lower weight and space requirement in shipping containers which means less carbon emissions. The wine comes from Sicily before being canned and sold in the UK."

Vinca currently employs its three founders plus one intern but is expecting to grow the team in the coming months. The product can be found in hospitality venues across Suffolk and the rest of the country. It sells wholesale as well as direct to consumers through its website.

"The toughest challenge faced by the business since launching in September 2021 is supply chain issues. Driver shortages, Brexit legislation, fuel prices and shipping delays have been really tough on the business," said Charlie.

"We've found that Covid has shifted people's buying patterns towards shopping directly with brands they love. Offering free shipping was a hit to our margin, but helped accelerate the popularity of our products online.

"We also offset the carbon from shipping to people's homes by planting trees. Our future plans are to work with national distribution partners to grow our network of independent businesses stocking Vinca in the on-trade and off-trade.

Vinca's canned wine (Image: Zakary Walters)

The cans are a quarter of a standard bottle. There is a Vinca red made with a blend of Nero d’Avola and Frappato grapes, a white wine made from Catarratto grapes and a Provence-style Syrah rosé.

The drink has caught some celebrity attention, said the trio. Framlingham-based Ed Sheeran stocked it in his dressing room and a TikTok post captioned “stealing a drink from Ed Sheeran’s dressing room” shows the singer in a mock horror scene as somebody helps themselves to one of his cans of Vinca.

Jack said they were "incredibly proud" of their product. "It makes us so happy when any of our customers love Vinca wine, but when we saw the videos Ed Sheeran was making for all his followers, we were especially excited. We’ve seen orders on our website flood in from all around the world since the viral TikTok,” he said.

“I've worked in the wine trade for over 10 years. In the last year I've seen more devastation to vineyards, a direct consequence of global warming, than I have in all my years in the trade. I wanted to launch a wine brand with sustainability at the heart of everything we do.

"Lighter shipping means we can slash our carbon footprint compared to importing glass bottles of wine.

"It’s great to shake up the wine industry by selling truly exceptional wine in this new format - although I’m biased of course. We’re already seeing more and more wine drinkers switch to cans, particularly those concerned about the impact of their consumer choices on the planet.”