News Growth of Cans in Mainstream Beer Sales May Worsen Shortage

While the explosive growth of hard seltzer and craft beer in cans has had a significant impact on the shortage of cans to the beverage business, small changes in trends for mainstream beer can have an even bigger impact, according to a report on the can shortage by First Key Consulting.

Craft beer saw cans’ share grow from 24% to 31% between 2018 and 2019. But cans’ share of mainstream beer, which had been relatively flat at around 62% for several years, jumped to 64% in 2019. Even two percentage points on a base that large makes a big difference.

If cans continue to grow in craft beer, there’s no reason to believe that mainstream beer – whose drinkers have long been more open to the package – won’t see a continuation of its own further shift toward cans, according to the report.

See the full report here.

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