Single Serving Wine In A Glass
Daniel Neville
Yesterday morning I spotted something in my RSS feed that I had previously missed in amongst all the creative goodness out there. Its one of those ideas that initially seems really basic and to a certain extent it is easy to dismiss as a gimmick or at the very least convince yourself that it had already been executed and failed. The idea? James Nash's Le Froglet 'cup-a-wine' - a single-serve plastic glass of French wine with a tear-off lid – has just started being stocked by Marks & Spencer, but the chain is already struggling to keep up with demand.
I can see how a product like this would be useful to someone wanting to enjoy a glass of wine with a picnic or even for lunch. I can also see them working very well at festivals and other large outdoor events. Throw in the fact that you don't need a glass or corkscrew and the idea seems like a no brainer…. but Le Froglet's 'cup-a-wine' almost did not see the light of day.
James Nash originally pitched his idea for the single serving wine cups of wine on the British reality Television show BBC's Dragons Den. The premise of the show is that would be entrepreneurs pitch new business concepts to a cast of five multi-millionaires (the dragons) who are seeking investments. Winning pitches secure funding from the ‘dragons’ in exchange for a stake in the business. The Dragons really did not like the concept and one of the Dragons, Duncan Bannatyne, was quite harsh. Check out James having his concept ripped to shreds here.
I bet the Dragons are kicking themselves now! James had this to say: 'It was disheartening to be dismissed by all the Dragons, but I knew I had a great concept which would work in outdoor events, BBQ, picnics, concerts and wouldn't give up. I'm really looking forward to facing the Dragons again as 'the one that got away'. Hopefully sales of the product will show that they're not always right.' At £2.25 for a Shiraz, Rose or Chardonnay single serving, wine consumers seem to have taken to the product already.
The main take out I would like to leave you with here is that although an idea might initially seem silly and unusable there is more often than not a way to make it work. I have a feeling Shed Simove would be proud of James for making his idea happen - and considering he was only asking for a £250,000 investment from the Dragons they must be re-evaluating the way they judge ideas presented to them. What do you think of Le Froglet's 'cup-a-wine?
Comments
I actually watched the episode when James presented his idea. To be honest it was not a bad idea but it was bad in terms of longevity. From a commercial stand point, who will stop someone else coming up with this and putting it into Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda, etc. Unfortunately there are simply no barriers to entry because this design cannot be patented. That's not to say James cannot do well. It's a niche market that can be exploited. James needs to get into as many distribution channels as fast as he can before someone else comes along to destroy his profits.
@Wentworth,
You make some good points - I have to agree that the concept is not exactly one that cant be copied and I think you are right in pointing out that he needs to get into as many stores as he can...
I think he might have a problem there. As far as I can see he has licensed the idea to Marks & Spencer because of their 'food on the move' section in their stores... we will have to see how this one plays out me thinks. At the very least James seems to have cashed in on the short term....
kayode kasum on 24/07/2010
great idea, its futuristic and it adds more style to drinking wine.