Powdered wine - sign me up

The results for the investments just came out, and although the powdered wine did not win the largest sums of investment, I think it is a fantastic idea, especially for low-middle end casual restaurants.

I believe that, although it will be first adopted by the outdoorsy folks, people who enjoy a nice glass of wine while hiking without carrying heavy liquids, the potential of powdered wine is in the low-middle end casual restaurants. Just as most soft drinks served at those restaurants come in the form of powder, which is then mixed with water, powdered wine has the potential of becoming the new normal for those restaurants that are mindful of margin and cost.

Having worked on a final project attempting to cut distribution cost by replacing glass with silicone, I'm amazed at how much more shipping weight powdered wine can cut. Even though glass represents 40% of the weight of an average bottle of wine, it still means that the liquid accounts for the remaining 60%. As such, if powder can replace 100% of the bottle with 10% of its weight, the shipping costs would be relatively negligible. Moreover, the volume would also be reduced manyfold, again reducing costs.

But what about taste? What about flavors? What about branding? These are the tricky questions. I'm assuming that technology will do its wonders and create, at least for the cheaper wines, equivalents in powder form. Powdered soft drinks is an indication that consumers may not care about the original form, so long as the end product tastes the same. From a branding perspective, the powder will have to be played down to the point where no one cares about that aspect anymore. One way to do so would be to have a "wine tap" where restaurant patrons can have a free glass of wine. Once they realize that there is not much difference, and that the price is much lower, chances that they fuss about the powder will be quite low.

Powdered wine has so much potential, it is just waiting for the audacious restaurateurs to try it out.