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What are the forms of beer packaging?

Apr 07, 2024
yanan
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beer equipment

China's beer industry has entered a vigorous mature stage, with the beer industry beginning to move towards large-scale and conglomerate development. Well-known beer brands have established production bases across the country. The rapid development of the industry has placed higher demands on beer production and packaging. Improving packaging to enhance product image and market competitiveness is the goal that beer companies strive for.

Currently, there are mainly three types of beer packaging in the market: glass bottle packaging, canned packaging, and keg packaging.

1.Glass Bottle Packaging

Glass bottles have always dominated beer packaging, accounting for approximately 80% of the total beer volume in the market.

(1) Types and Specifications of Common Glass Bottles

Commonly used glass bottles for beer packaging include green, brown, and colorless transparent types, each with three sizes: large, medium, and small. Large bottles are mostly 600ml, medium bottles are mostly 500ml, and small bottles are mostly 330ml. Small bottles have been favored in recent years due to their moderate packaging weight, ease of handling and storage, and alignment with the current trend of advocating for healthy drinking. Especially in bars, restaurants, and other venues, their sales are considerable.

(2) Main Features of Glass Bottle Packaging

Firstly, glass bottles have good barrier properties. The bottle caps mostly use crown caps. When sealed, the short skirt of the crown cap is pressed against the upper edge of the bottle mouth, tightly sealing the beer inside the bottle, ensuring the taste of the beer. Opening can be done using a bottle opener.

Secondly, glass bottles have good heat resistance. Currently, most beer companies' sterilization production lines use the pasteurization process, and glass bottles can adapt well to this production process by being sprayed with hot water as a medium.

Thirdly, glass bottle raw materials are abundant, inexpensive, and recyclable. Old glass bottles that have not exceeded their service life can be recycled and reused after soaking and rinsing.

Of course, glass bottles also have disadvantages, such as being prone to breakage and thus being unsafe. It is necessary to avoid severe impacts and collisions during production, transportation, loading, and unloading, to prevent explosions.

2.Canned Packaging

Cans are made by stamping the can body and bottom into one piece, and then sealing the can lid to the can body through a multi-layered crimping process.

(1) Types and Specifications of Cans

Beer packaging cans are mostly made of aluminum, mostly in the small size of 330ml, with a few in 355ml. In recent years, a 500ml can has also appeared. This type of can has the same diameter as a regular can but is slightly taller.

(2) Features of Canned Packaging

Cans have excellent sealing properties, simple and fast forming processes, and can achieve high-speed mechanical automated production. The can lid is easy to open, the can body is lightweight, easy to carry, and compared to glass bottles, cans have a much higher safety factor, are less prone to breakage, and do not pose the risk of bottle explosions. However, the market consumption of canned beer is not large, mainly because the packaging cost of cans is higher than that of glass bottles, resulting in a higher selling price for canned beer, which is not accepted by most consumers.

Statistics show that 84% of consumers prefer beer in glass bottles, especially in European countries, where this preference is particularly evident. This is not only because of the price but also due to people's lifestyle habits, which is why the consumption of canned beer is constrained.

3.Kegged Packaging

Fresh beer is mostly kegged, and it usually only takes a few hours from production to market sales. Its excellent freshness is incomparable to bottled beer, with a low price and a refreshing taste, suitable for sale to restaurants and bars during peak seasons for urban beer sales.

Kegged fresh beer maintains good flavor, with a large number of beneficial yeast cells remaining in the beer, which is in line with the current trend of advocating for fresh and healthy beer. However, kegged beer has a short shelf life and is only suitable for sale in places with convenient transportation and concentrated consumption. Fast delivery and sales, convenient for preservation, also greatly satisfy the high-level consumers' high demand for taste and freshness. For manufacturers, kegged beer does not use packaging materials such as bottles, caps, labels, and boxes. Its profit margin can be 30%-50% higher than bottled products.

Effective beer packaging is crucial for standing out in the competitive craft beer and draft beer markets. Breweries can create customized beer packaging that is aesthetically pleasing and resonates with their target audience, ultimately contributing to the success of the brand.

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