North America Beverage Can Market

Market Overview

The north america beverage can market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period, 2023–2031.

The beverage industry in the North American market is witnessing rapid growth in the last few years, backed by high disposable income, rapid urbanization, and people's changing lifestyles. The growing demand for beverages in the region has attracted multiple players in the market, resulting in fierce competition. There is a need to create brand value in the current competitive business environment and improve its brand loyalty. To gain a competitive edge over their peers, the prominent leaders innovate and adopt strategies for greater consumer experience. Aluminum cans allow the beverage manufacturers to portray creativity used to attract consumers, particularly the millennials.

The advent of digital printing technology on cans has changed the beverage can market outlook. Beverage can manufacturers are embracing digital printing technology for the limited-edition products that are launched for a short period. The beverage can manufacturers are providing customers with various techniques like embossing and debossing to accelerate the sales of beverage cans. Many beverage leading brands are inclined towards the methods for leaving a long-lasting impact on the consumers.

Beverage can manufacturers are offering customers with the latest technologies, enabling them to increase customer engagement during beverage consumption. For instance, Crown Holdings, Inc. has expanded its product portfolio through reveal ink for better interaction between consumers and brands. The unique tactile finish, created using an over varnish, changes the beverage can's appearance and feel. The tactile finish is ideal for creating a frosted or wet look to the beers, flavored water, and hard seltzers. The unique platform offered by beverage cans for creativity and communication drives the demand for metal packaging in the beverage industry.

Market Dynamics

High Recyclability of Metal Packaging Over Traditional Materials

Most of the beverage manufacturers in the U.S. use metal cans as their packaging solutions. The reason behind the high demand for metal packaging is the cause of the high recyclability rate of both the materials-aluminum and steel. Aluminum beverage cans are lighter in weight than the steel beverage cans, making it the most widely used option. Moreover, the light-weighting in recent years has improved the sectors' sustainability profile. Aluminum beverage cans are the world's most recycled drink containers. Strict government regulations and legislations to reduce environmental pollution and achieve a healthy environment is a major driving factor for the beverage can.

The circularity economy process of metal material is an ideal example of sustainability, primarily because it can be recycled continuously. The aluminum industry recycles nearly two cans for every three it ships in the U.S. According to The Aluminum Organization, the consumer recycling rate for aluminum cans jumped to 49.8% in 2018 from 45.1% in 2017. The use of recycled aluminum in the manufacturing of beverage cans helps save 92% of the energy required to make a new can.

As per the aluminum organization figures, the aluminum scrap is worth USD 1,317 per ton on average, which is further used in manufacturing beverage cans. However, the value for recycled plastic and glass is USD 299 and USD 20 per ton, respectively. Similar to the aluminum beverage cans, steel cans are also recyclable and can help conserve non-renewable fossil fuels. Furthermore, recycled steel cans help curb the emission of gases like carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The rising millennial population and increasing awareness among consumers and producers are driving factors for metal packaging.

E-commerce and Adoption of Omnichannel Distribution Ways 

The e-commerce industry is growing at an unprecedented rate and is the largest platform for the beverage's growth. The number of e-commerce players has mainly increased due to the ease of doing business and the rapid development of North America's logistics infrastructure. As lifestyle is getting busier and technology changes and improves, consumers are increasingly gravitating to convenient shopping options. Moreover, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly surged at-home beverage consumption. Due to the lockdown and social distancing norms, most consumers preferred ordering online and consuming beverages at home.

The number of internet users is increasing in the North America region, accounting for many internet users in the region, presenting ample growth opportunities for beverage manufacturers. According to the internet stats, the U.S. holds the third position in the top countries, having the highest number of internet users worldwide. The U.S. accounted for around 287 million internet users in 2017 in the North America region. To attract more consumers, e-commerce players are establishing extensive distribution networks. Hence, the rising number of distributors across the globe has tremendously surged beverage demand, presenting growth opportunities for beverage cans in the coming future.

Regional Analysis

Potential Beer Industry Disruptors 

North America's beverage industry is expanding exponentially due to the tremendous growth in the demand for various types of beverages. The introduction of the novel Drinks-Cannabis-Infused beverages and Hard Seltzers are anticipated to transform the beverage industry in the coming few years. Cannabis-infused drinks disrupt the current alcohol market due to the growth in the demand for wellness drinks in the region. The manufacturers are currently infusing cannabis into beverages of many types, including CBD water, coffee, wine, lemonade, soda, and more. The rapid growth in the cannabis market and the rising awareness associated with its health benefits boost the demand.

Many industry producers are shifting their production bases to Canada, as the country had federally legalized recreational cannabis nationwide in 2018. Ever-mounting demand for flavored beverages with natural ingredients and low-sugar levels is projected to augment the sales of cannabis-infused drinks in the countries, resulting in higher beverage cans growth.

Hard Seltzer water and soda are commonly categorized as flavored malt beverages and are gaining popularity across North American demographics. The key players are formulating strategies to position and market hard sodas serving a broad range of customer base in the U.S. The demand for seltzer drinks is often driven by appealing packaging, nutritional facts, and improved product quality. The hard seltzer is sourcing drinkers from wine, vodka, and spirits. Most Americans include hard seltzers in their shopping carts, presenting potential growth opportunities for beverage cans in the near future.

Beer to Play a Significant Role in Fueling the Market Growth

Beer is projected to hold the largest market share in the North American beverage can market due to the growing demand for the drink in the region. Any alcoholic beverage made by fermenting grains is referred to as beer. Malt cereal grains, hops, water, and yeast are the four key ingredients used in beer manufacturing. Brewers are channelizing efforts to develop new types of beer using brewing traditions and styles from different countries and blending them. A variety of beer types are available in the market, including ale, lager, malt, and stout, of which ale and lager are the most commonly consumed.

As per the Brewers Association, in 2018, the U.S. market for crafted beer observed a 4% growth rate in terms of volume and contributed to 13.2% of the U.S. beer market by volume. Most of the beverage cans produced are widely used in beer packaging. The rise in the number of beer breweries in North America is contributing to higher demand for a beverage can.

Figures recorded by the Brewers Association represents the craft brewery count in the U.S. reached 8,275 in 2019, up by 9.1% from the previous year count 7,594. The surge in the number of breweries in the U.S. with more than 1,700 different beers in the market is anticipated to propel the beverage cans market in the coming future. Protection from light and oxygen are two key benefits of the metal cans used for packaging. Nearly 500 craft beer brewers use beverage cans for packaging various types of beers, highlighting segment growth.

North America Beverage Can Market Segmentation

By Type

• Aluminum
• Steel

 By Application

• Beer
• Wine
• Carbonated Soft Drinks
• RTD Fruit and Vegetable Juices
• Others

By Country

• The U.S.
• Canada
• Mexico