This year, businesses nationwide have seen shortages of toilet paper and coins.
Now, they are experiencing a shortage in aluminum cans.
“We started getting a heads up from our suppliers that there was going to be a shortage on cans about this time last year,” said Right Brain Brewery owner Russell Springsteen.
Trends have been shifting in the last few years toward cans rather than bottles due to their sustainability and ease of use. COVID-19 has not helped the situation either.
“We already had problems with supply even before COVID,” said Short’s Brewing Company CEO Scott Newman-Bale. “With tariffs coming in, that kind of amped it up to the next level, and then what really pushed it over the edge was COVID where people are just at home consuming.”
Newman-Bale says Short’s goes through approximately 12 million cans a year.
“We have about 1 and a half million cans on hand right now,” Newman-Bale said. “We’re not talking a significant amount, 1 to 2 months of supply.”
Newman-Bale is confident in the rest of their supply.
“We are expecting to end the year OK,” said Newman-Bale. “We are starting to see supply issues where things are delayed, next year we’re anticipating a much more problematic scenario for us.”
Right Brain Brewery is experiencing that scenario now.
“I have half a pallet which will fill about half of my next order locally on the board,” Springsteen said.
However, he’s been able to get cans from different suppliers.
“We keep getting lucky. We just keep getting some,” Springsteen said. “We accumulated a little bit through the winter and spring. That got us through the summer. We’ve only run out once.”
Both breweries have considered switching from cans to bottles.
“We’re getting ready to go back to bottling. We’re laying out a plan right now,” Springsteen said. “Lead times are still long so bottles wouldn’t be out into distribution until mid-winter.”
“We do still have a bottling line that we will be using as much as possible,” Newman-Bale said. “Even that now is starting to get in tighter supplies.”
Newman-Bale is expecting this shortage to get worse overtime
“They’re saying the problem’s going to be around until 2025,” Newman-Bale said. “It’s going to be a long haul.”
Springsteen, however, is taking things as they come.
“You stay on your feet you do what you have to do to keep moving,” he said.
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