Hard seltzers are drinks that appeared a few years ago in the United States. They consist of sparkling water with a light alcohol content of around 6-7° and flavoured with fruit, often grapefruit or blackberry. Packaged in cans, these light and fresh drinks compete directly with beers, especially on the beaches in summer. They are a real success on the other side of the Atlantic: nowadays, one American in two consumes hard seltzers. The American market, which weighed 3 billion euros in 2019, grew by 43% in 2020.
In the course of these successful new products, the first "wine seltzers" appeared. In contrast to the classic hard seltzers where the alcohol comes from the fermentation of added sugar, wine seltzers use low-alcohol, dealcoholised, often rosé or sparkling wine, and flavoured wine. Wine seltzers are taking more and more place in this boiling market: brands such as Bloom, Movo or Babe are making their appearance. In Australia and New Zealand, manufacturers are also taking a strong interest in this new trend. The Barefoot brand and the Villa Maria brand launched their wine seltzer in Australia and New Zealand respectively in 2020. The British research firm, Wine Intelligence, believes that wine producers will very soon "ride the wave of wine seltzers".
Faced with this new trend, French players are preparing themselves. Hard seltzers have already made a first appearance in the territory during the summer of 2020, and many wine players have clearly understood the market opportunity that wine seltzers represent over the next few years. Rosé wines from the south of France have already started to market the first wine seltzers, notably the Pampelonne brand and also Café de Paris, which should launch its first wine seltzer very soon. The profile of these new drinks fully corresponds to the new consumer trends. Convenient to carry and more modern, the can also has a carbon footprint 80% lower than that of a glass bottle. Moreover, wine seltzers follow the trends of less alcoholic drinks but are also much less caloric: a 250mL can represents about 100 calories compared to double for the same quantity of wine.