Glass Half Full

We recently spoke with Beer & Brewer Magazine about why glass bottling is still important to some in the brewing industry, despite the rise in popularity of cans.

“FB*PROPAK sales executive Michael Morris said the brewery equipment supply and installation company have continued, despite the movement towards cans, to furnish different sized Australian and New Zealand craft breweries and cideries with bottling lines who have target audiences with a thirst for bottles. Whether they are breweries who are predominantly bottling their products, or splitting their packaging between cans and glass, or ones who are just having their special, limited runs released in bottles, Michael said glass retained its class for a number of reasons.

“Bottles are still in demand,” he said. “Recently we have delivered a bottling line to Sou’West who are confident their customers will demand the premium, upmarket look and feel of a bottled beer.

“Bottles will always appeal to beer consumers that want to drink from glass, while retailers will tell you a can is more prone to be damaged than a bottle. Most major off-premise retailers have large walk-in fridges that allow them to have an extensive range and if SKUs in bottles turnover faster, then they are more than happy to make them the dominant format for their store.”

With so many moving parts on a bottling line brewers have often found out the hard way that short cuts taken at the outset end up being deep cuts in the long run. Michael said that while they’re more than happy looking to different areas of the globe to find the best solutions for their customers, with bottling lines FB*PROPAK are steadfast that they must come from European suppliers.

“MACHINES FROM DEVELOPING MARKETS MIGHT SEEM COMPETENT AT FIRST GLANCE AND COME WITH AN ATTRACTIVE PRICE, BUT THE ‘POST-PURCHASE PAIN’ BECOMES EVIDENT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY,” MICHAEL MORRIS, FB*PROPAK

“The beauty of a well-made bottling line is that they’re not only for beer, but also beverages such as cider, kombucha, sparkling and still water, and wine. The machines are designed to be versatile so that their owners can change size and style of bottles as well as product without having to buy a new machine. Some changes to parts and updates to the programming have seen our fillers change category without ever leaving the position they were set up in. By virtue of this versatility into multiple markets, the resale value of a European line remains high when it is time for the brewery to upgrade to their next filler.”

-This article first appeared in the Spring Edition of Beer & Brewer Magazine