American Canning, an Austin, Texas-based aluminum can and packaging supplies provider, has signed a supply agreement with global can manufacturer Ball Corp. as an “official distributor” of blank and printed brite cans.
Through the agreement, American Canning can order printed cans with a minimum order requirement of 1 truckload per SKU (about 204,000 standard 12 oz. cans).
Brite can minimum orders will vary by can size and style, but will be about a half-pallet of standard 12 oz. cans, according to an American Canning spokesperson.
The agreement includes all core can sizes for brites and printed cans, including 12 oz. standard and sleek, 16 oz. standard and 7.5 oz. sleek.
The news may be a welcome option for bev-alc producers who were left to find alternative can supply solutions this year, after Ball announced it increased its minimum order requirement for printed cans from one truckload per SKU to five truckloads (a jump from 204,000 cans to more than 1 million cans). The change was announced in November 2021 and went into effect in March.
Earlier this fall, producers got a slight glimmer of hope when a Ball representative told a brewer client, in an email obtained by Brewbound, that they had been “give the green light to start printing single truck load runs again” with a surcharge of $3,500 per truck for orders fewer than three truckloads.
American Canning serves approximately 6,000 beverage producers across beer, wine and spirits, but the majority of its clients are craft breweries. The company’s agreement with Ball will now allow those small- and mid-sized producers to make smaller printed can orders, without the extra surcharge.
“We have purchased and sold Ball brite cans for many years now,” Monica Christmas, American Canning’s purchasing manager, said in a press release. “This agreement allows us to serve our customer base with a more diverse product portfolio through the addition of printed cans. It also guarantees supply and lead times in a more consistent way than we previously had.”
In 2021, American Canning announced plans to build its own aluminum can manufacturing plant. The plant is set to be operational this month, with sales available in Q1 2023, according to the spokesperson. The plant will have an annual production capacity of 300 million cans (both printed and blank).
American Canning co-founder David Racino spoke to Brewbound in December about the plant, which will use a “more sustainable” method for can manufacturing. The plant will also use a “liner technology that includes the use of a pre-coated aluminum sheet,” which will protect “hard-to-hold beverage ingredients as craft expands into more beverage categories,” the spokesperson said.
In February, American Canning moved its operations to a 155,000 sq. ft. facility. The new space increased capacity for the company three-fold, to an estimated 20 million cans, and houses the manufacturing plant. The company also added its second shrink-sleeve line in June, increasing its shrink sleeving capacity to 1.5 million cans per week.
Ball will hold its Q3 earnings call with investors Thursday, November 3. In its second quarter conference in August, the company announced plans to permanently close manufacturing facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, and St. Paul, Minnesota. Ball CEO Daniel Fisher said its customers’ decisions to increase price at the risk of volume losses were to blame for the closures.