Moves are a foot to bring back pint sized bottles of still and sparkling wine this year. According to the Department for Business And Trade the new 568ml size will offer more choice to customers. There is no plan to change the rules on selling in imperial measures alongside their metric equivalent, clearly stated on the label due to consultations which suggested that 98.7% of respondents favoured using metric measurement units.
The new legislation will also allow wine to be sold in 200ml containers, potentially paving the way for an expansion in the current wine in a can market. Pint sized bottles for champagne were sold up until 1973 when the UK joined the common market. They are reported to have been the size favoured by our war time prime minister Winston Churchill. It will be the 150th anniversary of his birth this year a definite reason to pour a pint and for the trade to stock up.
On the subject of champagne 2023 saw a change in its fortunes with an 8% decline in volumes shipped compared to the same 12 month period in 2022. Covid caused a complete drop in the market in 2020 which tumbled to 245m bottles followed by a bounce back to 320m in 2021 and a euphoric 326m in 2022, the third highest ever total. The 2023 figure dropped to 298.7m, below the symbolic 300m figure.
With manufacturing costs rising there will be an inevitable rise in prices this year and perhaps the new pint size bottle will fill a gap in the market against its more expensive 750ml relative.
