Treasury Wine Estates is rolling out a new Sorbet collection that mixes classic grape varieties with fruit-forward profiles like raspberry, mango and wild berry to appeal to people who want something lighter and easier to drink, with lower alcohol than traditional wines. This playful range is part of a broader shift inside the business as it looks for ways to stay relevant while tastes change and younger drinkers increasingly favour alternatives such as cocktails, seltzers and craft beers over a conventional bottle of red or white.
Behind the scenes, the company has built a global innovation program powered by an AI-driven insights engine developed with a research partner. This platform is already tracking more than 50 innovation projects and around 45 active concepts, using data from multiple markets to identify gaps in price points, flavours and formats. The system lets about 400 employees worldwide access real-time consumer intelligence and speeds up what used to be slow, siloed research so new ideas can move from testing to shelf in days rather than months.
All of this is happening while the overall wine market faces heavy headwinds. From 2021 to 2024, around 5 million people worldwide stopped drinking wine, with large declines in markets like Japan, China, the UK and Australia. At the same time, Millennials and Gen Z consumers seem less likely to choose wine at all, which suggests that flavour-led ranges such as Sorbet might help refresh the category but may not fully offset deeper structural shifts driven by health priorities, economic pressure and changing social habits. Treasury Wine Estates appears to be betting that by putting consumer data at the centre of decision-making and offering more playful, sessionable options, it can keep wine relevant for new generations while navigating a market that is still in decline.
