Bevcraft Group has taken over the mobile canning business of Them That Can, in a move that is claimed will deliver ‘significant’ service level improvements to the UK craft beverage market.

Them That Can launched one of the first mobile canning operations in the UK following its incorporation in 2015. Bevcraft is a craft can specialist, established in Ireland in 2016 by Ciarán Gorman and Darren Fenton. The group today has operations across six locations in Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands. It handles around 100 million cans a year. It recently commissioned one of the world’s first Cyclone digital direct-to-can printing systems from Tonejet. Launched with an initial 330ml capability, it will soon be expanded to include 440ml and 500ml volume cans.

As a business, Bevcraft provides a range of services including mobile contract canning, can distribution, can decoration, testing, servicing, and training. All services are unbundled so that craft beverage producers can ‘pick and mix’ the options that suit them. Typically, services are available on-demand, commitment free.

Them That Can’s mobile fleet, equipment and associated crews will join Bevcraft’s UK division with the enlarged offering operating as Craft Canning UK. There will be continuity of service to all existing Them That Can mobile customers. In addition, the digital direct-to-can printing services offered by Bevcraft from its plant in Peterborough (UK) will be immediately available to all existing Them That Can customers.

Stats from Smithers have shown that a desire for more recyclable packaging and new demand in emerging markets will help drive future demand for beverage cans and other metal packaging through to 2027, with print to be one of the beneficiaries of a 2.9% CAGR over the next five years.

Mr Fenton, Bevcraft Group COO, said, ‘The UK craft beer market is one of the most vibrant and exciting in the world and for the last six years Them That Can has worked hard to create the UK’s leading mobile canning service. We have always respected the Them That Can team and we are now very excited for them to be part of our shared story as we both embark on the next chapters of growth which will deliver further improvements to the market.’

The transfer will allow the management of Them That Can to focus on opportunities in the static canning market and to benefit from access to Bevcraft’s supply chain for its retained activities. For Bevcraft, the transaction will see its team increased towards 40 people across all divisions, and support further investment in the company’s client services, engineering, laboratory and digital print divisions.

Mr Fenton continued, ‘Mobile canning is a very visible activity and one which demands best practice and attention to detail. We have for years been investing in testing protocols, quality operating standards and maximum transparency across our network. These are values shared by Them That Can which we look forward to continuing and building upon.’

Bevcraft Group CFO Ciarán Gorman added, ‘Craft Beer has come a long way since the very first mobile canners popped up in the US a decade ago. Today there is a greater range of requirements than ever before as breweries try to right size there packaging capabilities to the market. It is clear that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution, which is why Bevcraft has focused on creating a complete menu of commitment-free solutions.

‘Our job is to make mobile canning as convenient, cost-effective and flexible as possible for breweries as they scale from zero up towards a million units a year, and if the time comes to give in-house a go. We are there to deliver whatever elements they need from can supply through to support and training.

‘Every brewery has its own unique circumstances. One of the most interesting patterns over the last year has been an uptick in demand for mobile canning from breweries who experimented with ‘in-house’ canning and have since found it more economic to revert to mobile canning to eliminate the headache of sourcing cans, managing decoration, retaining quality canning crews and to release the capital tied up in equipment.’

Read the April 2022 issue of Digital Labels & Packaging for a dedicated focus on the market and applications for digital labels and packaging for craft and artisan food and drink; register here to receive the magazine