Both consumer trends and changing packaging waste rules are paving the way for the can, finds Jaq Bayles

All the chatter around cider formats seems to involve cans. While 50cl glass bottles are the “number one pack format”, according to Alexander Wilson, category & commercial strategy director at Heineken UK, they are not without their challenges for both retailers and consumers.

“We appreciate and understand that not all stores, including some smaller independents, might have space for 50cl bottles,” Wilson says. “If this is the case, we recommend they focus on the 4x44cl and 10x44cl packs.

“Alternatively, Old Mout Fruit Cider is available in a 33cl can format, which is not only a format that has grown in popularity over the past few years, but also one that requires less fridge and shelf space, and helps retailers offer a high-quality cider option to their customers.”

Cans offer many benefits to consumers, says Al Collar, co-founder of craft cider maker Pulpt, including being lighter, allowing speedier chilling and being a more portable option for those enjoying the outdoor life during cider’s biggest season – which is expected to pose another challenge to glass bottles this year.

Everyone is slightly terrified of what Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) might mean for glass bottles in the summer and I think it’s definitely going to drive a move towards cans,” says Martin Rowe, managing director of the Somerset Cider Company.

As a craft cider specialist, he has seen a recent uptick in the availability of such products in cans, thanks to strides in technology.

“Cans [of craft cider] are becoming increasingly available,” he says. “There have been some technical challenges with canning 100% full juice cider because of the acidity and its reaction to the can lining and it’s taken a while to get a good number of people to get that right. There are now definitely more good quality craft ciders in cans than there were 18 months ago.”

And this is allowing craft cider to continue its trajectory in the fashion of craft beer with “funky looking cans”, although it has yet to replicate success in the format with low-alcohol versions. “I haven’t seen any low-alcohol craft cider in cans yet – I don’t know why that is,” says Rowe. “Lots of people are producing very good low-alcohol cider,” but he adds that the canning route is “quite a big commitment”.

Pulpt unashamedly leans into the craft beer movement and about a year ago started to transition into 44cl cans from the 50cl bottle format, “mainly through direct sales and small independent retailers”, says Collar. “However, from March this year we will be taking our cans into the large retailers.

He believes cans offer a variety of benefits to retailers, from easier storage and stocking to lower shipping costs and impulse purchase potential, of which Collar says: “Our can designs are more likely to grab consumer attention and encourage the more spontaneous purchases – so the opportunity for retailers is to consider shelf positioning in a way that really stands out.”