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Can shortage: Can maker Crown ups minimum orders to brewers

December 22, 2015Keith Gribbins

Save the cans hardywood craft brewery recycle
Brewers and can distributors say they started seeing a can shortage over the summer, according to The New York Times article below.

The can packaging debate is pretty much over in the craft beer industry — craft brewers are loving cans — just ask Crown Beverage Packaging about it. Crown is the biggest supplier of aluminum cans to the beer industry in the United States, and demand has been so high that beverage professionals are talking about a shortage. And it’s already affecting craft brewers. We cite The New York Times:

In the past, some smaller breweries and their distributors that needed only a few thousand cans at a time worked with Crown, a major manufacturer. It required a much smaller minimum order than two of its main competitors, Ball and Rexam. But the enormous surge in demand for cans squeezed the company, which raised its minimum order to the industry-standard truckload, which can range from roughly 155,000 to 200,000, depending on the size of the can.

“That’s a lot of cans to store, it’s a lot of cash to lay out, and the little guys just don’t have that,” said Tim Dorward, a mobile canner whose clients often refer to him as Tim the Can Man. “Crown was working with people, and they’re very interested in the craft industry, but it just caught them by surprise.”

In a statement, Thomas T. Fischer, a spokesman for Crown, said the company recognized that the new order minimum could present a challenge for some brewers, and that Crown had recommended alternatives.

Crown, Ball and Rexam all say they are looking at ways to address the growing demand for cans.

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Comments

  1. fobes says

    December 24, 2015 at 11:23 am

    MT @BeerLawCenter: More on Canpocolypse. Cantastrophe? > Can shortage: Crown ups minimum orders to brewers https://t.co/FT2FGaUYCj #avlbeer

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  2. JWoodside23 says

    December 24, 2015 at 10:50 am

    RT @BeerLawCenter: More on Canpocolypse. Canmegeddon? Cantastrophe? Cangate? >> Can shortage: Crown ups minimum orders to brewers https://t…

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  3. BeerLawCenter says

    December 24, 2015 at 10:45 am

    More on Canpocolypse. Canmegeddon? Cantastrophe? Cangate? >> Can shortage: Crown ups minimum orders to brewers https://t.co/U80yBNS9HQ

    Log in to Reply
  4. BradyBanse says

    December 23, 2015 at 6:47 pm

    RT @BlueLabelPress: Can shortage: Crown ups minimum orders to brewers  https://t.co/xh3oabWE2L via @craftbrewingbiz

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  5. WSJbeerbaron says

    December 23, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    RT @BlueLabelPress: Can shortage: Crown ups minimum orders to brewers  https://t.co/xh3oabWE2L via @craftbrewingbiz

    Log in to Reply
  6. InsuranceGuyKR says

    December 23, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    RT @BlueLabelPress: Can shortage: Crown ups minimum orders to brewers  https://t.co/xh3oabWE2L via @craftbrewingbiz

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  7. Charlie Reeves says

    December 23, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    Charlie Reeves liked this on Facebook.

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  8. BlueLabelPress says

    December 23, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    Can shortage: Crown ups minimum orders to brewers  https://t.co/xh3oabWE2L via @craftbrewingbiz

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  9. Danny Danny says

    December 23, 2015 at 8:21 am

    Just call Ball instead

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  10. Mike Stu says

    December 22, 2015 at 7:36 pm

    Mike Stu liked this on Facebook.

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  11. Hauck Architecture says

    December 22, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    Hauck Architecture liked this on Facebook.

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  12. Serge Lubomudrov says

    December 22, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    Serge Lubomudrov liked this on Facebook.

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  13. Ryan Mader says

    December 22, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    Ryan Mader liked this on Facebook.

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  14. Hauck Architecture says

    December 22, 2015 at 2:13 pm

    Sounds like the market for a small run can supplier is open.

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  15. Jonathan Cahoon says

    December 22, 2015 at 1:22 pm

    Jonathan Cahoon liked this on Facebook.

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  16. Beth Demmon Ivey says

    December 22, 2015 at 1:22 pm

    Beth Demmon Ivey liked this on Facebook.

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  17. Jim Sung says

    December 22, 2015 at 12:21 pm

    Jim Sung liked this on Facebook.

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  18. Kerry Campling says

    December 22, 2015 at 12:21 pm

    Kerry Campling liked this on Facebook.

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  19. ThreeBeardsBeer says

    December 22, 2015 at 11:37 am

    RT @CraftBrewingBiz: Can shortage: Can maker Crown ups minimum orders to brewers. https://t.co/NnFW4fWosa

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  20. CODODesign says

    December 22, 2015 at 10:57 am

    RT @CraftBrewingBiz: Can shortage: Can maker Crown ups minimum orders to brewers. https://t.co/NnFW4fWosa

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  21. HughesBrews says

    December 22, 2015 at 10:43 am

    RT @CraftBrewingBiz: Can shortage: Can maker Crown ups minimum orders to brewers. https://t.co/NnFW4fWosa

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  22. crsimp01 says

    December 22, 2015 at 10:32 am

    RT @CraftBrewingBiz: Can shortage: Can maker Crown ups minimum orders to brewers. https://t.co/NnFW4fWosa

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