Responding to the growing popularity of cans in the Icelandic market, brewery Ölgerðin enlisted the support of the world’s leading can manufacturer, Ball Corporation, to help them design and produce cans for the iconic AVA fruit water brand.
A brand rooted in sustainability, Ölgerðin’s entire production factory is powered by sustainable energy sources with the water itself not needing any treatment before consumption. On the lookout for new ways to increase these sustainability credentials, the oldest producer of beer and soft drinks in Iceland decided to update its packaging material to a new format that has less impact on the environment. With consumers in Iceland increasingly demanding smaller portions and more eco-friendly options when purchasing beverages, and since aluminum cans are the most sustainable form of packaging due to their high recycling rate1, Ölgerðin called on Ball to bring its packaging, and its design, into the modern day.
Utilizing Ball’s 33-centiliter standard format, the new can design features Ball’s popular HD printing technique to truly encompass the ethos of the AVA brand; whilst also highlighting the vibrancy of the fruit colors. Simply a combination of only two ingredients, fruit and water, AVA is at the convergence of two major drinks trends – canned water2 and healthier living. As such, the use of Ball’s HD design allows the ingredients of the beverage to be emphasised, providing vibrancy to the colors of the fruits featured in the design to make the product stand out amongst less healthy options.
Jóhannes Páll Sigurðarson, Brand Manager at Ölgerðin, said: “As activists for sustainability, we are constantly looking for ways to improve our footprint and refreshing our packaging was the natural next step to achieve this. By working together with Ball we’ve not only been able to tick this box with the introduction of a sustainable new 33-centiliter can format, we’ve also gained access to its experts’ valuable insight and guidance into how best to create our design on a can.”
Christian Nilsson, Sales Manager Nordics, from Ball, adds: “We really appreciate working together with beverage companies like Ölgerðin who want to embrace their sustainability credentials and truly make a difference to the environment. With canned water more popular than ever, it’s exciting to work with another customer who shares our values and wants to make the move to the favored can format.”
Produced at Ball’s Fosie plant in Sweden, the AVA Wildberry 33-centiliter cans were introduced to supermarkets in July 2018, with sales on the AVA Sitrus 33-entiliter cans commencing recently. Since their introduction, Ölgerðin has sold the equivalent of a can per 2/3 of the Icelandic population.