Canned beer, the favorite of Brazilians, turns 50

It was April 3, 1971. That Saturday, the headquarters of Companhia Cervejaria Skol-Caracu was in an uproar.

The manufacturer from Rio Claro, 173 kilometers from the capital of São Paulo, was preparing for the launching ceremony of the first canned beer in Brazil, Skol, a Swedish brand that the brewery in the interior had started to produce in the country in 1967 — before being purchased by Brahma, which only in 1999 would become Ambev.

The expectation was also high on the side of Indústrias Reunidas Matarazzo, owner of Metalma, responsible for the production of the first beer cans in tin sheets, a laminated material composed of iron and coated steel. At the time, the Matarazzo company was already manufacturing these cans to supply the food industry.

In a suit, the then mayor of Rio Claro, Álvaro Perin, set the solemn tone to the moment and took his first sip of the canned beer, under the curious eyes of the brewery’s directors, as reported by the Diário do Rio Claro at the time.

In these 50 years since that first tasting, the individual and practical packaging of the can has won millions of followers, to the point of being responsible today for 79% of all beer packaging consumed in the country, according to Kantar consultancy.

According to another consultancy, Euromonitor, consumption in 2020 was 19.6 billion cans of beer, a 16% increase over the previous year, driven by the pandemic – more cans were taken at home than long necks or liters in bars and restaurants.

“The change in consumption patterns during the pandemic further highlighted the advantages of beverages in aluminum cans, such as low environmental impact, ease of individual consumption and safety”, says Cátilo Candido, president of Abralatas (Brazilian Association of Aluminum Can Manufacturers).

After the installation of Latasa, the first aluminum can factory in Brazil, in 1989, in Pouso Alegre (MG), tinplate cans were replaced by packaging that allows the conservation of cold beer for much longer. .

But, at the time of launch, the cans produced by Matarazzo were a success. The former head of sales at Skol-Caracu, Arnaldo Pecini, now 88 years old, told Diário do Rio Claro that demand was so high that queues of trucks formed around the factory, waiting to be loaded.

The filling line produced 500 cans per minute, or 30,000 per hour. As the operation consisted of three six-hour shifts, the production capacity totaled 540,000 cans per day. The feat took place 12 years after the American Coors launched the first canned beer.

Today, Brazilian production reaches 32 billion cans in the year, according to Abralatas. In 2020, there was a 7.3% increase in the volume produced over the previous year and, in 2021, demand signals a new single-digit high.

“Over the last five years, even with the pandemic and the financial crisis, the average was more than 8% annual growth”, says Candido.

Aluminum can manufacturers earn R$ 14 billion a year in Brazil and have been accelerating investments. Between 2021 and 2023, US$ 1 billion (R$ 5.5 billion) are being invested in the country, with the opening of four new factories, informs Abralatas.

The American multinational Ball started manufacturing at a unit in Frutal (MG) this year and, in 2022, should start production in Benevides (PA). The Brazilian Crown Embalagens is going to open its seventh factory in Uberaba (MG) next year. The European multinational Ardagh, in turn, announced a new plant for 2022, but has not yet released the location.

The Ambev brewery, which concentrates two-thirds of the beverage’s sales in Brazil, inaugurated last year its Can Factory, with investments of over R$ 700 million and production capacity of 1.5 billion units per year. Located in Sete Lagoas (MG), the plant supplies operations in Minas Gerais and parts of the Southeast region.

Ambev is not self-sufficient in packaging and continues to buy cans from other manufacturers. The brewery is not part of Abralatas’ numbers.

“The aluminum can is the main packaging for beer in Brazil, and the sector has a growing participation in the bottling of the drink”, says Candido, highlighting the number of new breweries in the country between 2015 and 2020, mainly artisanal. “There were more than a thousand in the period, according to the Ministry of Agriculture”, he says.

According to the organization, beer accounted for 55% of canned beverages in 2019, a share that jumped to 70% last year. Today, Brazil produces 13 types of cans from 220 ml to 710 ml, which are bottled, in addition to beer, soft drinks, juices, energy drinks, teas and, more recently, water, wine and cocktails.

“The small can is a big bet among premium beers,” says Hudson Romano, senior manager of out-of-home consumption at Kantar consultancy. “But when the bills are tight, the consumer migrates to the more traditional packaging formats, such as the 350 ml can”, he says.

According to the executive, in the 12 months between October 2020 and September 2021 (compared to the same period of the previous year), there was an 8.3% increase in the price of canned beers for indoor consumption and a drop in 1.9% for out-of-home consumption — precisely in the period when bars and restaurants were operating with restrictions for a long time.

“Now we see consumption at home decreasing, with the reopening of commerce,” he says. “However, the challenge for bars will be to increase the frequency of consumption, given this scenario of inflation.”

The Petrópolis group, owner of Itaipava beer, assesses the demand for packaging according to the region of the country. “In Rio de Janeiro, for example, 550 ml brass is welcome, as well as in Pernambuco, where it is widely consumed”, says Eliana Cassandre, marketing director for the Petrópolis group.

“In Bahia, the 269 ml can has good acceptance”, she says, noting that the brass is the most cost-effective packaging. “It’s the most suitable format for sharing. It’s not even a 600 ml bottle, but it’s for sharing”.

It is worth remembering that, with so much can, Brazil is one of the biggest packaging recyclers in the world. The country recycles 97% of what it produces, the equivalent of 400 thousand tons a year. According to Abralatas —which presented the data at the Brasil-Glasgow pavilion at COP26—, the activity involves 800 thousand collectors.​