A survey of five major European markets and the United States has found that consumers prefer aluminum closures for wines and spirits as it makes it easier to keep bottles for later consumption.
The in-depth survey conducted by IPSOS of 6,000 consumers from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and the USA, was commissioned by the European aluminium closure manufacturers and suppliers who are members of the EAFA Closures Group, part of the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA), according to a media release from packaging giant Amcor.
Majority of the survey respondents prefer an aluminum closure over other options for its convenience and four out of ten respondents said they had wasted wine from a bottle closed with a cork closure which had been tainted or gone bad. The study also found that younger consumers and females are more partial toward aluminum closures.
“In markets where aluminium closures have a lower market penetration there is less understanding of the convenience offered by them. But even in these countries the majority responding accepted that aluminium closures offer a more convenient option for re-closing than corks or other types of closure. So it is clear consumers need to be offered more choice,” said Amcor.
With only 30% of consumers associating complete recyclability with aluminium closures, the industry is boosting its efforts to proactively promote the advantages of recycling. At present more than 40% of aluminium closures are being recycled in Europe.
“As the market penetration grows across Europe and the USA it is expected that the figures in favour of aluminium closures will even grow further. This will increase pressure on the winemakers and retailers to offer greater choice in future,” said Amcor.
