Editor's blog

 

Raise a can to beer

I’ve just finished the May issue of Cantech International this month has a focus on canned beer and it’s been a real pleasure to explore the topic this month. At first glance the market may not seem to be in the best of health but once you’ve spoken to a few people and dug down […]

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Hello and welcome

I’ve just finished my first issue as the new editor of CanTech International and I think it’s a great time to get into the can business. I’m hoping to meet as many of our readers and advertisers as possible in the coming weeks and months and with so many shows coming up it’s another reason […]

Competition for cans?

“One of my first challenges was to discourage the internecine fights between various packaging materials and interests. As I was fond of pointing out, I could write a handful of “plusses and minuses” for every packaging material. As an industry, we still have too many detractors and it does us little credit if public fights […]

Never look back

2012 was an exciting year for the metal packaging industry and I for one am looking forward to 2013. The chairman of the football club that I support works by the motto ‘Never look back’ – and over the last couple of seasons it has been best not to! However, in many ways this motto […]

Passionate about cans

Earlier in the year I used a previous blog entry to talk about how important it is for younger talent to come through in the metal packaging industry. There is an ageing workforce and as more specialists reach retirement age, knowledge is going to be lost. For some, can making might not seem like the […]

Getting interactive

As CanTech International enters its 20th year I wanted to bring to your attention some of the exciting things that we have been working on. Regular visitors to the website www.cantechonline.com will have noticed that we now have a video section. Videos that show how a beverage can is produced are now available to watch […]

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A costly can

Brazillian football star Ronaldinho made a costly error when he was recently pictured drinking a can of Pepsi at a press conference for his new club Atletico Mineiro. According to reports, he has lost a sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola which was reported to be worth up to £1 million. Reports state that the star’s contract […]

Marketing matters

I’ve been thinking about marketing and how well, or sometimes badly, the metal packaging industry promotes itself. The sustainability message is starting to get across as can recycling rates continue to rise. However, a quick search on Google shows that more can be done. Searching ‘sustainability cans’ returns 1,930,000 results while ‘sustainability glass’ returns a […]

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Sharing knowledge

I hope that everyone enjoyed the recent shows in China and America. Cannex certainly reflected the massive growth that the Chinese can market is experiencing at the moment while the IMDA’s annual conference attracted record numbers. You can read reports on both events in the June issue of CanTech International. I managed to catch up […]

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The Hotcan experience

I recently tucked into spicy beef pasta from a Hotcan and I have to say I was left impressed. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, Hotcans are self-heating cans that feature a self-contained heating mechanism, which is activated by simply piercing the rim of the can with a provided key. After carrying out […]

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The BPA debate

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is due to make a statement about Bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical that is used in the lining of some food and drinks cans, on Saturday (31 March). Some companies have already made the decision to move towards packaging their products in BPA-free cans. While some can manufacturers […]

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A crafty beer

Craft brewers throughout the US continue to choose cans as their package of choice. One of the reasons given is because of the sustainability benefits offered by metal packaging. While I am definitely an advocate of these environmental credentials I don’t necessarily think this is the top reason why brewers are choosing aluminium cans. Of […]

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Resource efficient

Metal Packaging Europe (MPE) recently hosted a debate on metal’s sustainability at the European Parliament in Brussels. The event, which was hosted in partnership with Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy MEP, brought together key influencers to promote metal resource efficiency in a sustainable Europe. You can read more about how the event went in the March issue of […]

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@CanTechIntl

I have finally succumbed to the pressure and created a Twitter account for CanTech International. You can follow us by clicking on the Twitter logo at the top of the CanTech website or by searching for CanTechIntl. The great thing about this particular social networking site is that you can find and follow groups that […]

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