How Juliet brought boxed wine to big box stores

When Juliet Wine launched in 2022, founders Allison Luvera and Lauren De Niro Pipher tasked themselves with an ambitious marketing goal: overcoming the negative stigma that has long settled around boxed wine, a product some associated with low quality, low prices, and even a notorious college drinking game called “slap the bag.”

“We thought there was a really unique opportunity to create something that had all of the wonderful attributes—the convenience, the sustainability aspects—of box wine, but really transcended the category” in terms of both quality and design, Luvera said.

Yet the brand’s proprietary “eco-magnum” packaging pushes the definition of “boxed.” Rather than a brown cardboard square or rectangle, Juliet’s six wine varieties are packaged in colorful 1.5-liter cylinders meant to stand out on the shelf next to more traditional competitors in the boxed wine category.

Now Juliet is testing its ability to make an impression on shoppers in much bigger marketplaces. Starting in 2024, the direct-to-consumer company launched its wholesale business, linking up with distributors in six different states and finding a place on shelves in big box chains such as Costco, Whole Foods, and Safeway.

“We always envisioned this reaching a larger audience via a higher-end big box store,” De Niro Pipher said.

Little box to big box: That journey to wholesale started with independent sellers in the New York and California markets, which allowed Juliet to get feedback from customers before going bigger, even as the merchandising experience was very different from what was to come at bigger retailers.

In many of these smaller stores, De Niro Pipher explained, Juliet was the only boxed wine on shelves. And while this meant great merchandising opportunities, it didn’t fulfill their vision of selling premium boxed wine to a larger audience in a bigger footprint.

But upcoming wine brands can’t just roll up to a Costco one day and leave a pallet full of untested products. In the case of Juliet, it first had to develop its relationship with major distributors.

This process took longer than expected, Luvera said, “because there’s been a lot of consolidation in the distributor tier, and the distributors these days are extremely discerning about bringing new products and new brands into their portfolio.”

Making the cut requires being prepared to scale, she added, including assurances that Juliet would have enough inventory to fill those shelves and the marketing and merchandising capacity to move that product off shelves once it got a spot.

The latter required the company to be aggressive about marketing, launching direct mail campaigns to online customers whenever they opened in a nearby brick-and-mortar retailer, and holding in-store product demonstrations to give new customers a taste of what’s inside those sleek cylindrical packages.

When it comes to creative merchandising, Luvera said retailers have been really open and collaborative–a trend that other DTC brands have noted as they’ve expanded into wholesale channels while also retaining their brand identities.

The company is targeting around 70% retail and 30% DTC in 2025, but sees the former moving up to 85% as it continues to grow as a brand.

“The online channel is a great tool for insights. It’s a great tool for testing new products, for discovery,” Luvera said. “But we know that our customer likes to purchase wine at retail.” 

Form matters: Now that Juliet is widely available at big box chains, the brand isn’t afraid to share space with rival boxed wine brands. Indeed, the company sees it as an opportunity to stand out. The brand’s form factor, or the size, shape, and design of its packaging, is more eye-catching when it’s sitting next to a more conventional boxed product, according to the brand’s founders.

“We’ve tested this in different retailers, and it truly does organically jump off the shelf compared to anything else in the category right now,” De Niro Pipher said.