Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/123973
A MATTER OF TRUST Eric Steigelman is founder and CEO of Bonfire Wines, which will hit the market this summer. While most people in the wine business are in it because they love wine, Steigelman is in it because he loves packaging. He has a degree in packaging science, and started Bonfire in 2012 after looking for markets where packaging hadn't modernized. Ask Steigelman about the challenges of getting people to try pouch wine, and he'll tell you about baby food. "Gerber baby food for three generations put its product in little glass jars," he said. "Once the pouch revolution came along in 2011, (the consumer) fought that trend as a trust issue. Forever, consumers trusted glass. That paradigm is shifting. This next generation is more willing to trust that (pouch) packaging, and once you gain that trust, you're in." Everyone interviewed for this article pointed out that the Millennial generation grew up with pouches of fruit juice and that trust is not an issue. "We were the first to start drinking out of pouches as kids," Steigelman said. "There is research that says that pouch packaging, among Millennials, is perceived as desirable, high-tech in a way that resonates with that demographic. " TANK Bonfire Wines founder Eric Steigelman says his brand will never see bottles. YOU " tweaking techniques and technology to make wine pouches more dependable, because they believe it's the Next Big Thing. "It wasn't perfect when they started bottling Champagne," DiFrancesco said. "They blew up a lot of bottles before they got it right." We've been supplying the world's best wineries with the world's best tanks for 45 years. Thank you for voting us Best Tank Supplier for 2013. SRSS.com | 707.544.7777 44 V I N E YARD & WINERY MANAGEMENT | May - June 2013 w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m