Dive Brief:
- PET packaging producer Petainer is set to debut a "highly tailored" solution for craft brewers, in which the company has already made "a significant investment," FoodBev Media reported.
- Petainer is best known for its its PetainerKeg, a lightweight, cost-efficient alternative to steel kegs made with recyclable PET.
- The company positions its products as a way for craft brewers to be able to launch new products and distribute to new markets more easily and with less of a risk of the cost of investment.
Dive Insight:
Cutting costs is always crucial to craft brewers, who often don't enjoy the economy of scale and wider margins that major brewers do. But companies have to maintain a careful balance between cutting costs and sustaining the quality of beer.
PET plastic is a nontraditional option for beer packaging, and it bears consumers' concerns when it comes to whether petroleum and other residues will make their way into the product. That's especially if the product and packaging become warm for any reason. The beer industry already contends with a heated debate over cans versus bottles, and throwing plastic packaging into that debate could intensify it.
It's also about consumers' perceptions. Even if using PET plastic for beer is safe, viable and does preserve the quality of the product, not all beer drinkers will accept plastic as a form of packaging. Such doubts could erode consumers' trust in a particular brand or craft brewing in general if many brands adopt this strategy.
However, if brewers and consumers are open to PET packaging, plastic could present a significant opportunity to craft brewers. In addition to cost-savings and margin expansion, brewers could also give a boost to their sustainability efforts. Not all consumers can recycle glass the same way, so plastic containers could enable consumers to more easily recycle their bottles, if the PET reaches the single-serving distribution level.