“Wine has been inherently conservative for a very long time” – just-drinks speaks to Kingsland Drinks MD Ed Baker

Over the past four years, Kingsland Drinks has invested heavily in production facilities as the bulk wine and spirits producer and co-packer for major UK supermarkets and brands looks to open up new growth categories for customers facing a challenged UK wine market. Investment has included a GBP5m (US$6.5m) high-speed bottling line, as well as bag-in-box and spirits-filling lines. A canning line has recently gone live, allowing Kingsland to produce wine RTDs such as its own brand, Vin Crowd, which was launched last week. As Brexit and changing consumer demands put the spotlight on UK wine, just-drinks spoke to Kingsland MD Ed Baker about the company’s recent spends and heard about the areas Kingsland’s client base is looking to target in a “fundamentally changed” wine market.