Crown Caps Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

Crown Caps Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2023 - 2028)

The crown caps market is expected to register a CAGR of 3.1% over the forecast period from 2021 to 2026. Crown caps and closures are experiencing a growth in the applications across beverages primarily driven by glass bottle adoption for drinks. With plastics criticized for environmental impacts, major beverage manufacturers have shared concerns regarding making a shift back to glass bottles. Also, as per Greenpeace and the Breakfree from Plastics Movement, the top four plastic polluters have been Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, and Danone.

• Crown caps find applications across Carbonated soft drinks, energy drinks, and alcoholic beverages. Among alcoholic beverages, beer happens to be the significant end-user with major beer packages using crown caps for sealing their bottles and cans. Whereas, considering food, niche applications on sauce bottles, seasoning and condiments bottles, all differing based on regional/country level availability/preference. Moreover, the usage of aluminum as material from crown applications across the wine industry is becoming predominant in terms of on par insulation for the wine from oxygen and cost benefits in comparison to cork.
• For instance, according to the Aluminum Closures Group, the use of aluminum closures in the wine industry shows an upward trend, with more than 30% of the global bottled still wine now expected to be sealed using aluminum. Another primary preference for crown caps and closures is due to its ease of disposal, recycling advantages, and increased shelf life. The beverage industry is the significant users are showing trends of the potential increase in adoption for the same in soft drink/carbonated drink segment. Expansion of the microbrew beer canning is expected to expand the studied market further. Crown caps are helping the Craft beer manufacturer to maintain a higher quality and premium look when served in a glass pint.
• The European region also outlines the growing launch of innovative beverage compositions, which will further aid in crown caps' requirements. In July 2019, AG Barr, United Kingdom-based soft drinks firm, expanded its portfolio of soft drinks with the launch of the new St Clements fruit drinks brand, positioned as an alternative to alcohol. The drink is packaged similarly to a pint of beer. Therefore, the St Clements drinks are made from sparkling water and fruit juice concentrate in 500ml bottles with a crown cap closure. Then, in March 2020, Ardagh announced that it would manufacture glass bottles for O'Connor Brewing Company. The former company will use 100% recyclable amber glass for O'Connor Brewing's bottles featuring crown caps.
• In April 2020, The Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies (CIABC), the apex body of leading liquor firms, wrote a letter to the Ministry of Commerce seeking an exit plan to open distilleries and liquor shops including pubs and restaurants in non-COVID-19 hotspots. In its second letter to various state governments within a week, CIABC has urged them to allow online sale of liquor as social distancing emerges as the new normal. The submission of this exit plan comes as liquor trade has shuttered in the wake of the COVID-19 lockdown resulting in financial losses for the industry that contributes about 20-40% of a state's revenue. The re-opening of liquor shops globally amidst the lockdown is expected to boost the crown caps market, which had a negative impact due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

• As consumers' non-alcoholic beverage choices have widened with other than Carbonated soft drinks, carbonated juices and sparkling water, among others, have gained momentum in the past few years. Multiple flavors have been developed, thus offering a potential market for crown caps shortly.
• Soft drinks, however, hold a significant share of the market studied, owing to the popularity of such drinks across the world. Soft drinks offer a wide variety of flavors and formats, with something to suit every drinking occasion. According to Unesda, low-calorie, sugar-free beverages currently account for up to 30% of sales in many European markets.
• However, other countries have higher levels of soft drink with sugar consumption. For example, Argentina, United States, and Chile top the list with 155, 154, and 141 liters per capita consumption of soft drinks. Soft drinks held a prominent share of single-use plastic bottles globally; nevertheless, various soft drink vendors are currently switching back to glass bottles, owing to the increasing government regulation, thus requiring crown caps to grow on a similar trend.
• For instance, Coca-Cola recently celebrated the 90th anniversary of the very first bottling of Coca-Cola's popular soft drink, with a special edition 0.33-liter glass bottle in a distinctively vintage style. In August 2019, the company launched six specialty sodas in Canada, presented in "premium-looking glass bottles.
• In July 2019, it expanded glass containers refillable bottling at its Mannheim plant for EUR 30 million. This is suggestive of increased orders for crown caps by the company. Furthermore, PepsiCo is looking to curb plastic packaging in its soft drinks. The company has set a target of reducing up to 67 billion plastic bottles through 2025. With its acquisition of SodaStream business, it is expected to boost glass bottle packaging in its offerings.

• Asia-Pacific is expected to witness the fastest growth because of the presence of two highly populated countries i.e., China and India. In these two countries, the increase in disposable income will act as a supplement for the growth of the crown caps market. Moreover, according to the World Health Organization, the total pure alcohol consumption per capita in China amounted to 7.6 liters. In August 2019, Carlsberg launched in Vietnam its ZerO2 cap, a new crown cap technology to reduce oxygen in the bottle. In order to offer consumers even fresher beer. The ZerO2 cap works using an oxygen scavenger liner of the cap.
• A considerable increase in the consumption of beer has been observed in India due to its growing youth population with a preference for beer. Changing lifestyles and consumer preferences have considerably boosted the adoption of beer in the Asia-Pacific region. Owing to the increasing demand in the region, companies operating in the region have grown to cater to the demand of other countries as well. Notably, China recorded the highest beer export across the Asia-Pacific region followed by Thailand and Singapore.
• Further, there has been a consistent growth in preference for beverages with low levels of alcohol and the sales of no-alcohol and low-alcohol beers have been rising with the growing interest from health-conscious consumers and a wider choice of new ranges with improved taste. Another driving factor is that the beers with low levels of alcohol are now cheaper than their high-alcohol equivalents, for those of 2.8% ABV and less. These factors are anticipated to increase the demand for crown caps in the region.
• The regional players in the region are extending capacities, increasing production due to the demand across food and beverage segment. For instance, Oricon Enterprises Ltd has a production capacity of 9,216 million units per annum of aluminum crown caps. And the company recently, entered into a joint venture with Tecnocap Group to form Tecnocap Oriental. The latter is expected to bring its specialization in the manufacturing of metal closures for glass jars and plastic containers.

The crown caps market is moderately fragmented and competitive due to the presence of international vendors. Some of the key players of this market are PELLICONI & C. SPA, Astir Vitogiannis Bros SA, Finn-Korkki Oy, and Crown Holdings Inc., amongst others. Along with others, these players are focusing on expanding their business strategies to gain a competitive edge over the market.

• March 2020 - Pelliconi of Ozzano (Bologna) operates in China as a significant crown corks provider. The company confirmed continuing its operations amidst the COVID19 outbreak, where multiple factories have shut down permanently. Opening up in Feb-mid has offered the company with advantages in terms of shipping agility and proximity to a market of 1.6-1.7 million consumers.

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