Juliet Wine comes in an innovative EcoMagnum
Juliet Wine
On July 20, 2022, the latest innovation in the red wine market dropped onto the marketplace. Wine in a box, or rather, a 100% recyclable cylinder, introduced as Juliet White wine. What first grabbed my attention, aside from the special format, was the branding and style. Gorgeous rich colors in butter yellow and cobalt blue, appealing gold lettering, abstract swipes, all proclaiming an environmental twist? As a wine professional and customer, I try not to buy red wine based upon pretty labels, however I couldn’t resist the visual attraction of Juliet.
I got in touch with the company for more details, letting them understand I first saw their red wines in an Instagram project. We wound up talking about the background of founders and co-CEOs, Allison Luvera and Lauren De Niro Pipher and their motivation for the product. I asked for a sample, skeptical of its excellent looks and targeted social media marketing.
The cylinder of Pinot Noir showed up. I took it to a Thanksgiving occasion and let everybody put themselves a glass from the spout. The wine sits in a recyclable plastic bladder, like a standard bag in box red wine. The packaging, which holds 1.5 liters, has a carbon footprint that’s 84 percent lower than a comparable two glass bottles.
I kept an eye on their facial expressions but stopped briefly for an accounting of my own reaction. Delicious! The Pinot Noir tasted of red fruit and spice with sophisticated satin tannins and a dry, fresh surface. 4 people drained pipes the container before we took a seat to dinner, then broke it down for paper and plastic recycling, utilizing the included pre-paid, recycled envelope. Voilà.
I followed up with founders Luvera and De Niro Pipher to find out more about their background, vision, and production experience for Forbes.
The following interview was performed over email and has been modified for clarity and brevity.
Juliet White Wine Co-Founders Allison Luvera and Lauren De Niro Pipher
Juliet White wine
How did the 2 of you satisfy?
We’ve been friends for nearly 20 years! We satisfied in college and became close when we were in our 20s, both working in fashion in New York City – Allison in marketing for publications like Style and InStyle and Lauren in PR at rag & & bone. It was a minute in time. We were out and about downtown, participating in the same celebrations, meeting fantastic people, which energy was inspiring. That love of style stayed with us both as we pursued other career paths, and ultimately affected the design-forward visual of Juliet.
When did the concept of developing a white wine brand happen and what was the timeline from concept to dedication?
We knew we wanted to start a company that put sustainability at the forefront of a product category we both liked. White wine authentically made sense due to the fact that we’re both passionate red wine drinkers who are passionate about innovation in the classification. When we found that glass bottles and their transportation are the biggest contributors to wine’s carbon footprint– and a huge barrier to enhancing sustainability– we understood that was something we wanted to fix for.
We ended up being obsessed with the concept of transforming boxed red wine. Our objective was to develop something so innovative and luxurious that it would go beyond the classification totally, breaking down the negative stigma numerous have versus it. After we thought up the concept, it took 18 months to bring the product to life, much of that time invested working with item engineers to develop our proprietary Eco-Magnum ™ kind element (with a patent pending).
Were you both used somewhere else at the start of the task? If so, did you stop your tasks to focus on Juliet?
When we came together to begin Juliet, Allison was ending up an Executive MBA program at Wharton and Lauren was operating in luxury realty. As quickly as we had our first prototype in hand, we knew we were on to something special and made a commitment to focus 100% of our efforts on building Juliet.
Why did you decide to deal with the carbon footprint as your point of distinction? Tell us about package and recycling chances?
Our objective from day one has been to make the wine market more sustainable by producing pioneering products that are eco-friendly without compromising quality or style. We believe it is the duty of all organizations to step up and do their part for the world, especially in agriculture-based markets like white wine, which act as a bellwether for the negative effects of climate change. Our vision is to move the culture of daily wine drinking away from glass bottles, a small habits modification that will provide an outsize reduction in carbon emissions for the market.
Juliet’s inner and external packaging is fully recyclable other than for the rope handle. We likewise use a take-back plan to help ensure the materials don’t end up in garbage dump, given that the inner wine pouch is categorized as a No. 7 plastic which not all municipalities accept. All red wine shipments consist of a prepaid, recycled envelope permitting consumers to return their empty white wine pouches to us, after which we send them to TerraCycle to be securely recycled.Juliet looks fantastic and
tastes tasty, perfect for elegant parties.Juliet Red wine The branding, logo, and box are gorgeous.Who did you work with and what did your
vision boards look like? We worked together with two LA-based, female designers to establish our brand name and label design. The
custom illustrations are inspired by the unique terroir of Central Coast, California vineyards. The branding and color palette are influenced by nature and interior decoration in a few of our favorite destinations on the
Mediterranean Sea like Portofino, Saint Tropez, Capri, Porto Ercole, Ramatuelle and Panarea. From terracotta tiles to perfectly upholstered chairs to sage green plants climbing up a blush-painted stucco wall, the state of mind boards were unlimited, and we’re proud of the outcome. The Juliet experience represents an escape from everyday life– the suitable, available extravagance. Even if you’re simply taking pleasure in a glass of wine in your home at
the end of a long day, the design and branding were developed in hopes that it might transport you to a location of stillness, luxury, and pleasure. How did handle to source excellent quality personal label white wine and will you have the exact same sources progressing? Where is the Pinot from? What about the Sauvignon Blanc and Grenache Rosé? We had a very particular vision
for the home design of white wine we wanted to develop, which is low-intervention and similar to European town wines. We partnered with a skilled winemaking group at a Qualified California Sustainable Winery
in Santa Ynez to bring it to life. The grapes are very first chosen based upon terroir and sourced from a few of Central Coast California’s the majority of renowned AVA vineyards. The ensuing wine making method honors the fruit by making use of low intervention and absolutely no synthetic ingredients while doing so, and the end product contains very little components which are transparently specified on the label for a whole paradigm shift on conventional bottles. All white wines are made in our Qualified California Sustainable Winery in the Pleased Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA. We sourced our grapes from the following AVAs for each variety: ● 2021 Pinot Noir -Edna Valley AVA ● 2021 Sauvignon Blanc -Delighted Canyon of Santa Barbara AVA ● 2021 Grenache Rosé- Edna Valley AVA and Los Olivos AVA What has been
the consumer and trade response to Juliet thus far? How hard or simple has it been to get rack positionings and in which markets are the wines presently offered? The reaction to Juliet has actually been extremely positive. Customers are right away drawn to
the design-forward, elevated packaging, and they value the superior quality of the red wine. Knowing that they are decreasing their carbon footprint by
selecting Juliet is a huge bonus. As for behavior, we are seeing a lot of Juliet at outside gatherings and holiday events. Individuals view it as a more enjoyable and
aesthetically appealing alternative to coming to a celebration with a standard bottle of red wine. Since launch, high-end white wine stores have been hugely encouraging of our objective. In all of our existing accounts, Juliet is displayed together with incredibly premium bottled red wines like Whispering Angel and Duckhorn, rather than put in the standard boxed white wine section. Juliet will quickly be offered in over 50 choose sellers in New york city, Florida and California. It has also been accepted by dining establishments and bars, especially those with outdoor seating(thanks to the glass-free format, extended shelf life and attractive design ). Wildflower Farms is serving our Pinot Noir fireside at their Upstate New York property this winter; Farmshop Brentwood is providing the Pinot Noir, Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc to their Brentwood guests; and The Bath
Club in Miami is pouring the Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc to their beach and poolside members.Juliet Red wine on retail racks Juliet White wine At$45, do you believe your price point is competitive for the”boxed”wine market? It’s not really boxed red wine, in my viewpoint, but since consumers may have problem discerning the difference till tasting it, how do you handle that leap of faith? Juliet is really special because it bridges the space in between boxed and bottled red wine. Consumers and merchants see Juliet as a climate-conscious, hassle-free alternative to Super Premium bottled red wines simply as much as they see it as an upgrade to standard boxed red wines that retail at very low costs. Because context, an Eco-Magnum ™ of Juliet is priced at a worth since the consumer is getting the equivalent of 2
bottles of premium, handcrafted white wine for$ 45.99, which lasts in the fridge for as much as six weeks after opening. As we host frequent in-store tastings in our existing retail markets (NY, CA, FL), we have actually seen that the customer is very first attracted by the packaging
design, then impressed by the quality of the wine itself, and constantly pleased to hear of the ecological benefits. 9 1/2 times out of 10, they walked into the shop planning to acquire a bottle of$20 -$30 red wine, and went out with an Eco-Magnum ™ of Juliet. Will you move to even larger formats? Jeroboams? Juliet is leading a boxed wine transformation and we are just starting! Our objective is to make the red wine market more sustainable by producing pioneering products that are environment-friendly without jeopardizing quality or design. In that spirit, we are absolutely considering larger formats, other alternative packaging styles, more varieties, and limited-edition products– anything that will help move the culture of white wine drinking away from glass bottles. We are already working on a few of these interesting developments for launch in 2023. What has been the most significant difficulty to getting a brand-new white wine label created, marketed, and offered? Our most significant challenge has
been that absolutely nothing like Juliet has actually ever existed prior to so there was no path to
follow, we had to forge our own. Juliet was an idea we had in our heads, and through effort, perseverance and some imaginative problem solving, we were able to will it into existence. It’s been enjoying see how rapidly customers have actually accepted the idea, not only buying Juliet but enthusiastically sharing it on social media and by word of mouth to family and friends. How did you fund your job? Did you take on financiers, self-fund, work with family and friends? To money our business, we raised capital in an oversubscribed Seed Round, which included financial investments from pals,
family, angels, and funds. Juliet’s potential has been acknowledged by crucial investors, including
Jonathan Neman(CEO & Creator of Sweetgreen)and Leora Kadisha Neman, Lauren Bosworth(CEO & Founder of Love Health ), Penis Costolo(Former CEO of Twitter), Kurt Seidensticker (Founder, Crucial Proteins), Brooke Wall(Founder, The Wall Group ), and Anderson Family Brands.
Any suggestions for other entrepreneurs, specifically women, for releasing a company? Start by concentrating on your” Why.”Make certain you understand what unmet requirement you are attending to, how you are significantly improving an existing product
or service offering and determine a target audience to serve. The more crystalized your vision, the more conviction and success you’ll have in pitching it to others and constructing a community around you(whether that be financiers, employees, customers, subscribers, or all the above). Anything else you wish to add? Juliet uses consumers design, substance, and sustainability in an unlikely place: boxed red wine. With an uncompromising & dedication to sustainability, quality, and style, Juliet is conquering the unfavorable preconception versus boxed white wine and convincing elegant, influential individuals to embrace the format for the first
time. With a mission-driven concentrate on decreasing the market’s carbon footprint, Juliet is
a category-defining brand that is firing up a culture shift in everyday red wine drinking. Juliet Wine