On November 18, an announcement rocked the world of craft beer, and it wasn’t another acquisition. Instead, Ball Corporation, the world’s largest manufacturer of beverage cans, announced that they were quintupling the minimum-order quantity for printed cans from 204,000 units (one truckload) to 1,020,000 units—per SKU. Ball also announced that it would no longer store excess cans for non-contracted customers.
As one industry insider put it, it was a sad day for canned craft beer, “and a huge pivot for Ball, who was historically the most craft-friendly of the large producers.”
Ball delivered an aftershock the following day, announcing price increases ranging from 13 to 28 percent. It was a one-two punch to independent brewers, who already were being bombarded with price increases on materials and supply-chain problems.