New York’s Great South Bay Brewery connects its can rebrand with its carbon footprint

Great South Bay Brewery (GSB), a local Long Island, N.Y., brewery, has announced a major rebranding that it says reflects the company’s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and establish a simple, consistent, can design. After 10 years of operation, GSB has decided to take its packaging in a different direction without making any changes to the award-winning beer or sacrificing dedication to the craft. Moving away from its classic images and graphics, the company decided to break things down and use a more simple, sleek design while sticking true to its history and brand.

“With all the crazy artwork and busy designs in the brewing industry, we decided to go in a different direction with our rebrand,” said Ryan Randazzo, special projects manager. “The refined look is easy to spot, and the uniform design makes it distinguishable on the shelf. By putting the beer style in big letters under the beer name we hope consumers will find it easier to effortlessly find the beer that’s right for them, and maybe try something new.”

While GSB may be moving away from their classic, beach-themed designs, the company continues to hold true to its roots with nautical flag designs spread across each can, and individual logos for each beer style under its names. The company wants to shift the perception from a summer beer to a year-round brewery that takes the craft seriously. The new can design is being distributed right now.

To be more environmentally conscious with the rebrand, GSB has decided to stop bottling its beer and focus exclusively on cans and kegs. While kegs are ideal for lowering the carbon footprint in the brewing industry, the decision to eliminate bottles was an easy one for the growing brand.

“The problem with glass is it’s heavy,” said Zach Popp, sales representative at GSB. “Between the thick cardboard packaging used to make sure bottles don’t break and the larger carbon footprint it leaves when it comes to transportation, we decided to eliminate bottles entirely in an effort to go green.”

Transporting bottles emits 20 percent more greenhouse gasses than that of a can, which drastically adds up over time, said the press release. It doesn’t stop there. Cans are typically made with 70 percent recycled content, as opposed to 20 to 30 percent for bottles, and people are 20 percent more likely to recycle cans than glass.

The rebranding includes top to bottom redesign of the company’s logo, graphics and packaging design for the first time in the brand’s history.