What it takes to succeed in today’s wine industry…
The growth in wine startups has slowed since the early months of the pandemic when we saw a flurry of micro-merchants popping up, but the ignition for innovation continues to spark and for those brave enough to import and innovate there’s success to be had.
Guada Oliver and Kat Mayhew are co-founders of wine start-up Candour, a canned wine company that innovates and imports… by the can load. Candour, meaning ‘being open and honest’ - as well as being a direct nod to the chosen packaging - produces ‘limited editions of carefully selected, carefully made wine from independent European winemakers packaged in single-serve aluminium cans.’ But it’s 2024 and wine in a can is becoming widely accepted and (whisper it) boarding on mainstream so how have Guada and Kat managed to conceive, execute and launch a range of low intervention canned wines in a relatively crowded space and successfully secure a UK importer all in year one?
Founder of Rewriting The Wine News, Belinda Stone, sat down with the co-founders of Candour and discovered, as with most good businesses, success lies in the talents of its people and a good dollop of persistence. Here Kat and Guada share their journey so far, their respect and admiration for the wine industry and their plans for the future.
Guada Oliver (left) and Kat Mayhew (right), co-founders of Candour
You've both worked in the wine trade but this is the first time you've started a wine business of your own. Tell us a bit about your backgrounds, what Candour is and how you came to be co-founders.
Guada: I’m originally from Argentina. I studied Industrial Engineering and became very interested in working in the commercial area of a consumer goods company. By chance, when I graduated, I started working for a big wine group, and I immediately fell in love with the industry. I worked there first as a Marketing Operations Analyst, and then as Brand Manager. After a few years, I decided I wanted to get an MBA and that’s why I came to the UK. There I met Kat and we immediately connected over our shared love of wine. As part of the course we were encouraged to start a project for an entrepreneurship class. Obviously we wanted to work on something wine related. After lots of research and great conversations, we landed on the idea that would turn into Candour: we wanted to help the industry become more sustainable by creating a brand that worked with really good quality wines made by amazing producers and would only sell in aluminium cans as a much more sustainable and convenient option to traditional glass bottles.
Kat: And I’m from the Pacific Northwest in the U.S. I started working in restaurants originally out of an interest in food and agriculture, but quickly honed in on wine. I love learning about wine, talking about wine, pouring it for guests – and of course, sharing it with people I love. I actually still work as a sommelier here in London. Candour was born out of our shared love of wine, and our desire to help move the industry forward. Guada and I met in business school and saw a real opportunity to build a company that championed the aluminium can as a modern, sustainable format, while focusing on a level of quality and storytelling that we weren’t really seeing in the space.
What triggered your move from working in wine to starting your own wine business and why canned wine?
Guada: If I look back, I don’t think I ever thought that I would be starting my own business. Candour was started as a ‘school project’ - all the research and conversations we had during that time made me realise how much change was needed, how big an impact we could make in the wine industry, and how real the opportunity was. If I combine that conviction with the fact that I was already starting a new life in a new country and had no one other than myself to take care of, I figured that I was in the perfect position to give it a go. I think I would have regretted not trying.
As for why canned wine, the market is still very nascent, and we didn’t really see anyone doing it the way we wanted to. A big part of Candour is to reduce the industry’s carbon emissions and overall environmental impact. But we didn’t want to have to compromise on quality to do so. We love the industry and all that has been built over the years, but we also think it’s time to shake up some things and innovate or there’s a serious risk of not being able to adapt to global changes in time.
Kat: When we started looking into alternative packaging, we realised how much sense the aluminium can makes. It has huge carbon-saving potential, a much higher recycling rate, reduces waste...but it’s still a relatively new format for wine, and currently has a bit of a perception problem. Wine has so many traditions associated with it, and many of them revolve around the glass bottle. We really wanted to enter the conversation respectfully - as people who love many of those traditions – but also acknowledging that some parts of the industry really do need to change. The idea that quality wine only comes in a heavy glass bottle, for example, is just not true, and it’s quite harmful environmentally. This goes hand-in-hand with the kind of snobbish attitude that can intimidate people. So the challenge was, how can we create a fantastic, fun brand that calls people in, that offers a platform for exploration and experimentation, without dumbing anything down? And Guada and I were both up for the challenge!
The Candour range currently has three wines: red, white and rosé
You launched just over a year ago and you've already secured a UK importer, something that wineries can take years to achieve. What's your secret?
Guada: Persistence. Keeping ourselves positive and motivated. Supporting each other through the rollercoaster that it is starting your own business. Having friends and family around us that remind us and celebrate with us the progress we make. I don’t think there’s a secret, it’s just about being convinced that what we’ve built is good and to keep trying. We’re really happy to be working with Alliance and we’re looking forward to building a strong partnership that will help both of us grow.
Kat: I don’t think there’s a secret – we’ve been very persistent and really built our network in the UK wine industry from the ground up. Canned wine is still new, especially for quality wine, so we‘ve experienced a range of responses from outright rejection, to curiosity, to enthusiasm. We recently started working with Alliance Wine, a national distributor with a fantastic portfolio, and we’re thrilled to be working with them.
Canned wine in general is becoming more mainstream but less so are low intervention wines in a can. Can you explain what you mean by low intervention and does anything need to be done differently when canning a 'low intervention' wine vs a 'regular' one?
Kat: While we’re not dogmatic about our definition of “low-intervention,” we are looking for thoughtfully-made wine that obviously has to taste amazing, and is a great representation of where it’s from. That naturally aligns with grapes grown in healthy soils (either certified or uncertified organic/biodynamic farming) and gentle winemaking practices that don’t mask the purity of those grapes and soils – such as indigenous yeast fermentations, no additions other than low doses of Sulphur for stabilisation, and no or light filtration. When it comes to canning these wines, because they are less manipulated than most, the transportation and canning process needs to be very careful. So we use the best reusable bins for transport, and work with the best canning facility for wine. They’re not adding anything to the wine except for a tiny dose of nitrogen before the can is sealed.
Variable fonts express acidity, body & fruit levels in each wine (Animation: Bedow)
Candour has an innovative design concept which feels like a first in wine packaging. Tell us about how you've linked design to the flavour profile of the wines in the can.
Guada: We knew we wanted to do something different when it came to the design. We wanted to communicate with our consumer in multiple ways. We discussed this with Bedow, the agency that we worked with for the design of the labels and branding, and they introduced us to something called variable fonts. These are fonts that vary slightly depending on the value that you give to some pre-assigned variables. In our case, we wanted the typography to take over the label because it was something that we had never seen before. We set three variables: acidity, body and fruit – and we rated each wine in these three aspects. The different values that we gave each variable made the typography slightly different, sharpening the edges or making the letters thicker. We think this is a fun way for our consumers to have a sense of the profile of the wine inside the can before tasting it.
What are your immediate and long term plans for the business?
Guada: We’re gearing up for a funding round. The aim is to grow the business and the team, as well as expand to new markets. Canned wine is still a novelty in most countries and we want to help the format become more accepted and adopted globally.
Kat: We would like Candour to become a well-known brand that is synonymous with quality, transparency, and fun. I would love to introduce people to new producers, new grapes, new regions through the brand – and to really convince people that canned wine can and should be taken seriously. I really believe that it’s the future.
Read more, buy, follow and get inspired:
candourwine.com
@candour.wine