Market Flexibility
Elsewhere, North Cornwall’s Harbour Brewing Co and Somerset-based Wild Beer Co have made forays into permanent can production following the installation of new LinCan lines from American Beer Equipment (ABE).
The micro-canning lines were supplied and installed by Vigo, which has been the UK agent for US-based ABE since April of this year. The new LinCan lines feature a twist rinser, 7 head filling station, seamer, rinser, airblower and packing table. To minimise oxygen pickup there is a CO2 purge, a fob pulse and under-lid CO2 jet.
Eddie Lofthouse, co-founder of Harbour Brewing Co, says the foray into canning was a clear business decision.
He adds: “Flexibility of packaging is what the market dictates. Cans are convenient, they don’t break – so they’re ideal for the beach and festivals – and I love the fact that you can stick loads in the fridge! There are cost benefits too – cans are cheaper than bottles and we are able to pass these savings on to our customers.”
Harbour has been running its 30 can per minute canning line for a month at the time of writing, and Lofthouse explains that its sales have increased 30% since the introduction of cans.
“We are in the latter stages of negotiation with a number of multiples, due to our strong brand and as a result of using a canning line which is CE compliant,” he adds.
Vigo has previously supplied Harbour with a CIMEC automatic bottling line in 2013 with Lofthouse citing the supplier as “integral” to the success of the business to date.
“They give us good service, and the knowledge, backup, and support of their staff is excellent. We need to work to capacity and every hour and minute counts. Vigo enable us to do this with minimal down-time. I have no hesitation in recommending Vigo as a wonderful partner,” he says.
Right Time
For Wild Beer Co, the decision to start canning at The Wild Beer Co was clear-cut, with co-director, Andrew Cooper explaining that “cans are of the time and now is the time to be in cans for beer.”
Wild Beer’s automatic CIMEC bottling line was supplied by Vigo last year, and the company’s experience of Vigo was a “key factor” when sourcing canning equipment.
“We chose Vigo for the canning line because we have an excellent existing relationship with them,” co-Director Brett Ellis confirms, “and they offered the right product at the right time – and the right price,” he adds.
Ellis explains: “The cans have met our highest expectations. In the first month of production we are extremely satisfied with the quality of product we are able to produce with the canning line. We are seeing excellent demand for our product in cans, which justifies our decision to move to cans.”
Jon Clatworthy, commercial director at Vigo Ltd, says the company had noticed a growing interest and excitement over canning in the independent brewery sector in the last couple of years.
“Cans for convenience is just half the story. Craft brewers are very keen to do all they can to retain the personalities of their beers and canning is one of the ways of achieving this. Cans help protect beer from light and oxygen and retain fresh hop flavours,” he says.
WeCan Solutions’ Hughes agrees. “Cans keep the beer better, in my opinion. The pricing is comparable against bottling, and the overall proposition is simply stronger”.
The demand for the company’s mobile canning proposition has led the business to investigate the addition of two newer canning lines that will enable them to handle larger volumes of up to 15,000 cans an hour, which has resulted in interest from larger breweries looking into mobile canning.
“People consume a beer before they open it so ensuring a can looks as good as possible, and one that keeps the beer in excellent condition, is so, so important,” he adds.
