We're all familiar with it, the magical $1.99 vino available at your local TJ's - Charles Shaw. There are a number of interesting theories of why the wine is so cheap, and then there are some more logical business reasons why it is so. Let's look at both!
Myths
Myths
- Divorce
- Charles went through a divorce and was outraged at having to divide his assets and as a result sold the wine at a very low price in order to ruin any potential profits
- Airplane
- After 9/11 corkscrews were banned on airplanes and as a result, airlines offloaded a large amount of wine and TJ's bought it up - selling the wine at a very low price
- Claw
- Charles Shaw used a giant mechanical claw to harvest it grapes (a large cost savings mechanism), including any bad grapes and potential small animals in the vineyard!
Economics
- Cheap real-estate
- Charles Shaw grapes are grown in the San Joaquin Valley which is much cheaper than Napa or Sonoma
- Oak chips
- They use oak chips rather than oak barrels which is a huge cost savings as the barrels are very expensive
- Lightweight bottles and cheap cartons
- They reduce shipping costs by using as lightweight materials as possible to package the wine
- Low-cost cork
- They utilize a special cork which has cork pieces glued together and a cork veneer at the bottom
Sources:
https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/the-mystery-of-charles-shaw-better-known-as-2-buck-chuck/
https://www.businessinsider.com/why-trader-joes-wine-is-so-cheap-2017-5
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