Blogs
Recognising the best in metal
In the October issue of CanTech International, we featured an in-depth look at the ‘next generation food can’ produced by Ardagh in conjunction with vegetable canner Bonduelle. Since going to print at the start of last month, word has reached us that the can has now been formally recognised for its unique properties, and has […]
The growing aerosol agenda
In last month’s issue, we featured an in-depth analysis of the growing aerosol trend, and since going to press, we have been deluged with more positive stories that point towards its rise in prominence. Celebrating a wide array of newly designed aerosols, Aerobal recently held its annual World Aluminium Aerosol Can Awards, which CanTech International […]
Changing perceptions of canned foods
– I recently had the pleasure of meeting with Atit Bhatia – senior vice president of Hindustan Tin Works and member of our editorial advisory board – who provided some great insight into the current state of the can making market in India. Noting the fact that the canned food market in the country is […]
Reflections from Drinktec
I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new editor of CanTech International. Having spent the majority of last week in Munich at Drinktec – which, I’m pleased to report, featured a strong can presence through the show – I have already had the opportunity to witness first-hand a range of innovations […]
Carton sustainability marches on
Can makers are going to have to keep on their toes over the next few months as rival packaging mounts more of a recycling drive. It was a surprise to me that the UK, until last week, had no recycling facilities for cartons at all. They were all shipped abroad to be recycled instead. That […]
Heinz PR blitz ahead of job cuts
Three press releases in almost as many days have been released by canned beans and soups giant Heinz. All the releases show the new canned soups the company is bringing out on to the UK market. They all look delicious and it is always good to see more food cans being released. But if you […]
Are cans really that hard to open?
Which? a British magazine famed for campaigning for consumer rights has ‘named and shamed’ cans as the hardest to open packaging. Are cans really that bad? With EOEs it’s pretty easy for even the most infirm to open a three-piece can and two-pieces have had SOT for almost as long as I can remember. On […]
Supplier Profiles 2013
We’re putting together our Supplier Profiles for 2013 as I write this. It means we’re making a bumper issue of the magazine with more than 100 pages of news, features and of course the profiles. The reason why I’m writing about this is it’s really interesting to me to see all the companies. There are […]
Judgement day
I’m a judge in this year’s Aerobal world aluminium aerosol can award. It’s obviously an honour for me to be involved in the competition, which began originally in Europe as the aluminium aerosol can of the year. As Aerobal grew to represent the industry on a global scale so did the competition, which was turned […]
Milan via China and Hong Kong
I’ve been travelling and out meeting can makers and a can making equipment supplier over the past week. It’s been pretty non-stop as I flew to Xiamen to see Baofeng Industry’s new end making plant. The company is aiming to be the biggest end maker in the world and is currently creating what could be […]
Having a Ball
I’ve just had the pleasure of being shown around Ball Packaging Europe’s Rugby plant. As a journalist I’m often going to see places and, well, sometimes its amazing and other times you wonder why they wanted you to come at all. But the management team at Rugby led by plant manager Paul and assistant Mark […]
Aluminium price “fix”
Well, if the general public didn’t have enough reasons to hate investment banks now there is another one. According to an investigation by the New York Times one investment bank’s ownership of warehouses in Detroit in the US, is allowing it to move aluminium around between its sites. The practice is not illegal but does […]
Beer in a can
The mainstream media, at least in the UK and the US, seems to have been packed with opinion pieces over the past few weeks praising canned beer. One columnist in the UK’s Independent newspaper said that anyone who believed beer out of a glass bottle was better than a can was a “snob.” In the […]
Plastic’s not fantastic
The march of plastics seems to have been in full flow over the past couple of weeks. First the iconic canned meat Spam announced the sale of a plastic tub, then a British Company bought out a plastic “can”. The truth is plastic is not fantastic it’s a poorer version of metal and is worse […]