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Brittany Zaborniak, a server at Cosmic Eye Brewing, stacks a tower of beers on the canning operation line, Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, in Lincoln, Neb. The Brewers Association warned at the end of July that aluminum can manufacturers were at capacity with no way to increase production this year. (Justin Wan/Lincoln Journal Star via AP) lessBrittany Zaborniak, a server at Cosmic Eye Brewing, stacks a tower of beers on the canning operation line, Friday, Aug. 21, 2020, in Lincoln, Neb. The Brewers Association warned at the end of July that aluminum ... morePhoto: Justin Wan, MBI / Associated Press
A surge in at-home dining and happy hours has led to a surge in demand for aluminum cans that is changing what shoppers might find on the shelves in Southeast Texas.
An increase in the purchase of canned sodas and beverages has slowly eclipsed parts of the nation’s production capacity, mostly for 12-ounce aluminum cans used for soda and beer. This is forcing some companies to innovate ways to keep products in the stores.
Skylar Thompson, president of Market Basket Foods, said the shortage has meant soda and beer producers have been cutting down on the varieties they send to his stores and that sometimes means an empty spot on the shelf for a few days.
In mid-August, the Keurig Dr Pepper company joined a growing list of manufacturers reporting shortages across its entire flavor line.
In an effort to keep giving customers the products they want and take some strain off can manufacturers, Thompson said the company has started offering sales for other forms of beverage packaging across its Texas and Louisiana stores.
“We’ve been doing more promotions for non-can packages like plastic bottles,” Thompson said. “That’s been our direction, and it seems to help.”
While stores try to shift demand during the shortage, the variety of different packaging options seems to be growing as well.
Jeff Wheeler, director of marketing for the beer wholesaler Del Papa Distributing, said the shortage has led to unexpected outages of certain brands and varieties.
“In those situations, you have to optimize for what makes the biggest impact,” he said. “Our supplies are feeling the pinch, so companies are putting eggs in a few brand baskets and sending the most products they can.”
Alcoholic beverage makers are also shifting focus to glass and other forms of aluminum containers besides 12-ounce cans.
Wheeler said brands like Michelob have started making changes like switching 24-packs almost exclusively to aluminum bottles.
He said consumers can probably expect more changes if the shortage continues.
Ball, one of the country’s largest can manufacturers, has announced plans to build new beverage can plants in Pennsylvania and Arizona early next year, but that is not expected to ease shortages anytime soon.
The can-demic presents yet another challenge for an industry that’s been particularly hurt by the economic slowdown related to the coronavirus outbreak in the United States.
Most smaller craft breweries that distribute their products in stores rely on specialty companies that can wrap their cans in labels that meet state regulations. Now, there is a growing backlog for orders, which could prevent some beers from showing up on shelves.
Joel Hollier, a partner with Pour Brothers Brewery in Beaumont, said the company bought extra pallets of its four-beer core lineup for local in-store sales. But top-seller Hooligan Hefe could soon disappear from shelves.
“We were getting reorders of cans at five to six weeks, but now it is more like 10,” he said. “We’ve been going through 12 to 20 cases a week.”
At this rate, Hollier said, Pour Brothers could be sold out in about two weeks.
If that happens, the brewery could print its own labels and sell six-packs directly from its storefront in downtown Beaumont.
That presents its own challenge in a time when taprooms are closed and to-go sales have been unsteady for most craft brewers.
jacob.dick@beaumontenterprise.com
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