Beverage Cans

In the United States beverage cans are most often made of aluminum, beverage cans made in Europe and Asia are made from an alloy consisting of approximately 55% steel and 45% aluminum.

The aluminum used to make beverage cans is widely available, affordable, lightweight and easy to shape. It is far more cost effective to recycle aluminum beverage cans than to extract the raw aluminum from its ores. For this reason aluminum beverage cans are the most recycled of all beverage packages.

An aluminum beverage can has an internal coating to prevent the contents from directly contacting the aluminum. This helps maintain the integrity of the beverage that is in the can.

In today’s dynamic beverage can industry the printing process has become so advanced that some can manufacturers can print almost as well on cans as they can on paper labels. This has made the aluminum beverage can a more popular choice than ever for beverage manufacturers.

Sleek beverage cans, a new style of beverage can that is now available, utilize innovative and new age shapes to attract consumer attention. For this reason sleek beverage cans have become increasingly popular and an effective marketing tool for beverage companies. The latest technology in custom beverage cans allows for the production of many different shapes and sizes from subtle to highly innovative asymmetrical designs with fine detail and significant expansion capability.

Here is a brief description of the beverage canning process;
Beverage canning typically starts with water being treated and cleansed to meet exacting quality-control standards, usually exceeding the quality of the local water supply. This process is critical to achieving a high quality beverage with a consistent taste profiles. The treated water is piped into stainless-steel tanks of different sizes.

In the next  stage various ingredients are added and mixed in batching tanks, these are smaller holding tanks used to make syrup. The syrup can include ingredients such as liquid sugars like fructose or sucrose, non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharin, color, flavors, nutraceuticals, preservatives as well as a host of other ingredient options. Once the syrup is ready it is pumped into much larger tanks where it is mixed with more water to create a finished solution ready for packing.

If the product is going to be carbonated (absorption of carbon dioxide (CO2)) beverages are cooled using large, ammonia-based refrigeration systems. Carbonation is what gives carbonated products their effervescence and texture. CO2 is stored in a liquid state and piped into carbonation units as needed. This process can be manipulated to control the required rate of beverage absorption. Depending upon the product, soft drinks may contain from 15 to 75 psi of CO2. Fruit-flavored soft drinks tend to have less carbonation than colas or sparkling water. Once carbonated, the product is ready to be dispensed into the beverage cans.

The filling room usually is separated from the rest of the facility, protecting open product from any possible contaminants. This highly automated filling operation requires a minimal number of personnel. Filling room operators monitor the equipment for efficiency and adding any components that are needed during this beverage canning process. Empty beverage cans are transported automatically to the filling machine via bulk material-handling equipment.

Once all of the beverage cans are filled they are automatically packed into trays and then shrink wrapped. This finished case of beverage cans is them placed onto pallets by a palletizer and wrapped with plastic wrap ready for shipping.

If you are interested in finding out more about the beverage filling process contact us today and let us help you start bottling beverages.