The body that represents British can manufacturers has reported growth in shipments of cans for both the UK and European markets.
The 63bn cans delivered across Europe during 2014 represented a 3.7% increase on the previous year, The Can Makers said, but the UK continued to be the packaging format’s largest market with a share of 9.8bn cans. This was supported by 2.8% growth in the UK soft drinks sector and 1.9% growth in the alcohol sector, fuelled by increasing demand for canned ciders.
The UK was the largest European market for drinks cans in 2014.
The Can Makers’ focus in 2014 was on promoting the use of cans in the emerging indie beer segment, and encouraging its members to adopt the Metal Recycles Forever symbol as a mark of their commitment to environmental sustainability.
The biggest soft drink growth was plain water’s 10.3% surge.
Colas, plain water, pure juices and fruit carbonates performed most well in the UK’s soft drinks industry, all selling more than 500m litres in volume. The biggest growth was recorded in the plain water and pure juice categories, which experienced growth of 10.3% and contraction of 10.6% respectively. The most popular packaging format was polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles greater than 600ml in size, which accounted for 56% of the overall carbonated soft drinks market.
The most canned alcoholic beverages were beer, light wine and cider.
Meanwhile, beer, light wine and cider were the three most prominent categories in the UK alcoholic drinks sector – perhaps unsurprisingly. Volume rose by 1.1% to 3.392bn litres, but the strongest advance was in consumption of sparkling wines, up by 26%. Lager and cider respectively accounted for 67% and 22% of the take-home beer and cider segment in the UK during 2014.
The Can Makers said: “The recovering economy and greater consumer spending power are positive indicators and should drive growth in both take-home beer and cider and soft drinks. Whilst there are both the Rugby World Cup and the Cricket World Cup in 2015, they are unlikely to drive volume, like the Football World Cup.
“We are confident that the inherent attributes of drinks cans, their consumer appeal, infinite recyclability, ease of recycling and cube efficiency in transport and on the retail shelf, will continue to be recognised by the trade and consumers.”
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