Amcor has announced plans to commence production of shaped cans in Australia for a range of beverage products starting in mid 2003, following a technology licensing agreement with Crown Cork & Seal Company.
Amcor will have capacity to produce around 20 million shaped cans each year for use in the premium beer, alcoholic ready to drink and soft drink markets.
The license provides Amcor with exclusive access to Crown Cork & Seal's proprietary technology, which is similar to the blow-forming process used for PET bottle manufacture.
Amcor will have the capacity to produce a variety of shaped can sizes from 250ml to 500ml using both symmetrical and asymmetrical designs.
Shaped cans offer beverage brand owners an innovative alternative to shaped glass and PET to help achieve improved shelf presence, enhanced brand equity, retail price premiums and incremental volume from increased consumer demand.
Peter Brown, managing director of Amcor Australasia, said, "This latest agreement with Crown Cork & Seal demonstrates the company's continuing focus on delivering innovative product developments for targeted growth segments in the Australasian food and beverages market."
Crown Cork & Seal is the leading producer of shaped beverage cans worldwide. Shaped cans have been used extensively in overseas markets, including the international premium beer industry by leading brewers Heineken, Sleeman and Scottish Courage. In the US, Heineken has used the keg shaped can to increase beer sales by over 50 per cent since the mid 1990s.
Amcor is the largest supplier of aluminium beverage cans in Australia and New Zealand, producing over 2 billion cans annually for major companies within the beverage industry. The company is rapidly growing in Europe, too, and last year broke in to the PET bottle market there with the purchase of German company Schmalbach-Lubeca.