Box Wine Gets BIG in Sweden!
After many trips to the Swedish alcohol monopoly, Systembolaget, one tends to develop a routine. First I toss a few beers into my basket, then a trip to the ‘special orders’ counter where one can order wine that is not normally available in the catalogue. After which I spend most of my time wandering in and out of the wine isles. This is my favourite part of the excursion and should come as no surprise 
I always like to keep an eye on general trends and particularly which SA wine labels are making it to the Systembolaget shelves. Frankly, I wish there were a lot more. I still believe that SA wine is under-represented in foreign markets, but expect some growth in the near future.
‘…many traditionally ‘high end’ SA labels are now taking advantage of the demand for box wine.’
However, on this particular occasion I certainly did notice a trend. I couldn’t help but notice that the shelf, or shelves rather, reserved for box wine had been extended considerably. Not only this, but SA wine labels were well represented. Labels that I’ve never heard or seen before have found their way into the Swedish market. Perhaps an explanation for the growth in box wine sales could be the state of our current economy. Just about everyone is trying to cut costs, and box wine offers this opportunity to many. What is also interesting is that many traditionally ‘high end’ SA labels are now taking advantage of the demand for box wine.
Instinctively, this comes as good news to the SA wine industry, but I can’t yet make up my mind if this trend will ultimately provide the growth and direction that the industry actually needs… can you?
Cheers!
Brandon Marc
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
