Celebrating Canmaking

Krueger's First Beers

You won't have missed the importance of 2010 in the canmaking industry. Not only does this year mark 200 years of canmaking, but it's also the 75th anniversary of the beer can. We celebrate both these significant milestones in our Happy Can-iversary feature. And speaking of celebrations, an American couple is mixing environmental concerns with wedding planning, and it's turned out to be a happy marriage. Check out World News to see how Alcoa is helping.

As February rolls in there's plenty happening in the canmaking industry. Several companies have released financial results, with some looking very healthy indeed. Companies which operate in the food industry seem to have been able to balance declines on the beverage side, and almost all are optimistic about the outlook for the next couple of years. (Well, things could hardly get worse, could they?) Heineken's purchase of Femsa will certainly bring some changes on the filling side, and who knows whether canmakers will get more business as the two operations are harmonised?

As we were about to publish online the February issue, we received news that Stolle Machinery will not be attending Cannex in Las Vegas this year. Instead, the company will be focusing on its programme of regional technical symposiums. “Cannex has been, and will continue to be, a valuable marketing tool for many in our industry. But as we look at our marketing goals for 2010, exhibiting at Cannex just doesn’t fit into our 2010 marketing strategy,” says Gus Reall, President of Stolle CMD. David Groetsch, CEO of Stolle adds, “Stolle is maintaining a robust marketing program in 2010 and we feel that our regional technical symposiums will be more targeted – and more valuable – for our customers around the globe.”

Is this a sign of things to come? Will you be at Cannex this year? Canmaking News certainly will be to bring you all the latest happenings in our industry. See you there.

A Final Word

Canned Goods (and canning supplies) are known to sell particularly well in times of recession... This is due to the tendency of financially-stressed individuals who engage in 'cocooning'. This is a term used by retail analysts to describe the phenomenon in which people actively avoid straying from their houses. In February 2009, the recession-laden United States saw an 11.5% rise in sales of canning-related items.

Sharon Hurley Hall
sharon@canmakingnews.com

Janis Osborn
Publisher
janis@canmakingnews.com