Crown and Eklo Water bring ‘first’ flavoured water cans to Brazil

Crown has partnered with Brazilian beverage brand Eklo Water to introduce the “first” flavoured water to be packaged in aluminium cans to the country.

With strong growth predicted in Brazil’s flavoured water market as consumers seek healthier drinks, Crown Embalagens Metálicas da Amazônia (Crown Brazil) joined forces with Eklo, which currently sells citrus and red berries flavoured waters.

Both variants are free of sodium, calories and preservatives. Instead of using artificial sweeteners found in many of today’s drinks, Eklo Water is flavoured naturally with fruit and sweetened by stevia. They are sold in Crown’s sleek 310ml cans, which are produced at its Cabreúva plant in the country.

Crown Brazil director of commercial operations Altair Frulane said: “Beverage cans play a pivotal role in addressing the needs of natural and organic foods. For example, metal serves as an impenetrable barrier to light, air and moisture, protecting the integrity and nutritional value of the products they contain without preservatives.

“These barrier properties help extend the shelf life of products, and ultimately, reduce food waste. The format also offers several functional benefits that appeal to consumers, including the ability to chill quickly and being light in weight, allowing them to enjoy their favourite drinks on-the-go. ”

Eklo Water co-owner Fabio Nono added: “It is clear that Brazilians want healthy, flavourful alternatives to teas, soft drinks and sugary beverages. Our flavoured water meets that demand and sleek style beverage cans are the perfect format to market them in.

“While we originally launched the drink in cartons, we transitioned to sleek style beverage cans as we are seeing consumers display an increased preference for package attributes such as portability, eye-catching design and overall durability.”

The brand also said that the sustainability credential of the can – specifically that it is 100% recyclable – was another critical factor when deciding to change formats.

Eklo Water is currently available in Rio de Janeiro and the brand aims to expand distribution across the south of Brazil and then to the entire country. Market testing on additional flavours will be conducted this year.