Huge costs in moving to smaller beverage cans
The costs of adapting UK factories to meet Food Standards Agency (FSA) demands for fizzy drinks in smaller cans could be prohibitive, industry sources have claimed.
In a consultation document on reducing saturated fat and energy intakes, the FSA has recommended that by the end of 2015, the UK soft drinks industry ‘should make readily available single-portion packaging sizes equal to 250ml or less and market these in such a way as to encourage consumer preference for these smaller sizes’
But industry sources said introducing 250ml cans would be a major risk given the capital costs involved. One source said: “There are two issues - the can diameter, and the seaming operation - which attaches the body of the can to the end. If you moved to a Red Bull style can, you’d have to change lots of things from the guide rails between the cans and the star wheels that grip the cans to the whole seaming operation - and all of these things cost money. However, if you used the ‘sleek’ can size used for thinner 330ml cans but made them shorter, you could stick to the same can end diameter.”
One site manager added: “It all depends what capabilities you have. For lines geared up to switch between sizes, you just need the relevant change parts - although even with these you could end up spending £250,000 or more. Likewise, if you’ve got an automated packing and palletising operation, you can re-programme it to accommodate different sizes. But if you are geared up exclusively for 330ml cans, you could be talking about investing in a completely new production line, and that can cost millions.”
Contract drinks manufacturer Universal Beverages, which is commissioning a high speed canning line at its site in Ledbury, said it would be able to handle smaller cans if customers wanted them. Engineering manager Mike Pearse said: “There are more slimline cans in the market now for energy drinks, wines and so on, so we viewed forward in the planning stage and built in flexibility.”
Rexam already makes 250ml cans in Austria and Germany for clients such as Red Bull and could initially supply UK customers from these plants if the demand was there, said John Revess, marketing director, beverage cans Europe and Asia. If volumes approached the hundred million mark, there could be a business case for manufacturing them in the UK, he added.
But the big unknown was whether UK consumers would buy 250ml versions of mainstream drinks such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola: “It depends on the drinking occasion - in some impulse outlets 250ml cans could work very well for a variety of products.”
*For reaction to FSA calls for a 4% reduction in added sugar in selected soft drinks, see the September issue of Food Manufacture magazine
