You Might Never Guess The Wild Ride This Wine-Based Staple Has Had To Get To Your Grocery Shelf

There’s something about summer and sangria — from bubbly and rose to red, white and blue, the wine punch has become a staple worldwide.  

Perhaps some of the magic of sangria is that it’s an easy pour for picnics, wedding feasts and restaurants. But sangria’s presence on American tables had a relatively inauspicious beginning.
After a start and a falter in Spain during sangria’s origins in the 700s, the wine made a comeback in the 1700s and 1800s, but this time was made in England and France using traditionally French grapes. At the time, there was white, sparkling and peach sangria available only in Europe. It eventually made its way across the seas to a minimal U.S. market in Spanish restaurants. At the time, the wine was not catching a lot of American attention. 

But thanks to the 1964 New York World’s Fair, where the majority of publicity surrounded the debut of The Walt Disney Co.’s DIS It’s a Small World ride, a sangria being poured at the Spanish pavilion nearby was making a quieter splash. And that hugely popular fair pour of the Spanish wine ignited the evolution of what is now an American staple.  

Jump to 2022 and sangria has made the convenient hop to your local grocery store with the help of folks like Fort Lauderdale’s Splash Beverage Group Inc. SBEV, a company with a portfolio of beverage brands. The company’s Pulpoloco line, featuring three traditional types of sangria, has landed in 187 of Kroger Co.’s KR Ralph’s Grocery stores in Southern California.

“This is another significant milestone for Splash and a meaningful step in our strategy to expand into major supermarket chains,” Splash Chairman and CEO Robert Nistico said.  “After a successful test run, Ralph’s authorized all three SKUs of Pulpoloco white, rosé and classic red.”

Since last summer, Ralph’s has carried Splash’s Copa di Vino varietals and has added all three of the company’s Pulpoloco varietals. Splash believes that the addition of Pulpoloco to Ralph’s shelves is a strong affirmation that consumers are catching on to its unique product lines. 

Kroger is a grocery chain with 2,750 grocery retail stores under various banner names.  Splash’s Nistico praised the company’s relationship with Anheuser-Busch Inbev SA BUD distributor AB One as instrumental in the sangria’s arrival on Ralph’s grocery shelves. 

“AB One’s coverage includes Southern California, and Ralph’s confidence in them as an elite service provider in beverage distribution was a key element in our obtaining this authorization,” Nistico said.  

Splash owns a growing portfolio of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverage brands, including Copa di Vino wine by the glass, SALT flavored tequilas, Pulpoloco and TapouT performance hydration and recovery drink.  

The company says its strategy is to rapidly develop early-stage brands already in its portfolio and acquire and accelerate brands that have high visibility or are innovators in their categories. 

Learn more about Splash Beverage Group on Twitter at twitter.com/SplashBev or on the web at splashbeveragegroup.com. 

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Featured photo by Divya Agrawal on Unsplash