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Lakeport likes can filling flexibility

This Ontario brewer designed a can filling line that accepts sizes from 8 to 32 oz. Secondary packaging can be corrugated trays, paperboard or plastic ring carriers.

Can filling lines at beverage plants are among the fastest in the packaging business, with speeds easily in the 2ꯠ cans/min range. Such lines are typically dedicated to one can size, however, so speed is gained at the expense of flexibility.

But at Lakeport Brewing in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, a line installed last September favors flexibility over speed. On a single line, this Hamilton, Ontario, firm can fill aluminum cans as small as 250 mL (8.45 oz) or as large as 950 mL (32.12 oz). Secondary packaging can be in a variety of formats, too, says Lakeport president Bill Sharpe. Speeds, he adds, range from 850 cans/min on the smallest sizes to 275/min on the 950-mL cans.

"The entire line is designed to be flexible," says Sharpe. "Secondary packaging can be paperboard carriers for twelve-packs, ring carriers for four- or six-packs, or twenty-four count trays with shrink wrap. It's all a matter of diverting the cans in the desired direction."

Sharpe is especially excited about the 750- and 950-mL cans. "They're popular in the province of Quebec, where young males 19 to 30 years old see them as a convenient single-serve package. But we plan to expand them into Alberta and British Columbia. Both provinces are strong can markets, just not in these large sizes. We're also looking at inquiries from Taiwan.

"Other Canadian brewers have some capacity in these large sizes, as does Miller in the U.S.," he continues. "But no one else is promoting it the way we are. We want it to grow. Graphics play a role, too. We're not just relying on line art. We specify wet-on-wet printing technology to produce four-color printing that has some depth to it."

The large 750- and 950-mL cans Sharpe describes come from Reynolds Metals (Richmond, VA), though other vendors are involved with other can sizes. "We also want to diversify the company into some of the newer beverages," Sharpe continues, "the coolers and coffees, for example, or fruit-based drinks that include tequila or vodka or rum."

To package these, a blender and flash pasteurizer are being installed. The blender is able to carbonate a beverage if it's desirable. It can also inject liquid nitrogen so that still drinks can be canned, as well. The super-cold nitrogen turns to gas as it warms, thus creating pressure in the headspace to give the can the same rigidity as a can holding a carbonated soft drink.

Strong potential

Whether under the Lakeport brand or for a private-label customer, this category of coolers, coffees and cocktails has strong potential, Sharpe believes. But because it's still a category in development, it's difficult to predict which can size or sizes will prove most popular. That's why Sharpe wanted a canning line as versatile as the one he installed. The capability of filling a variety of can sizes is a big plus, he says.

Currently Lakeport handles 950-, 750- and 355-mL (11.9 oz) can sizes. Applied to the two largest varieties are 300 ends while the smaller size takes a 202 end.

At the center of the line is a counterpressure rotary filler from Crown Simplimatic (Lynchburg, VA). The machine has 60 valves but is built on a frame typically used for a 72-valve filler. That's why there's room enough on the can-lift platforms for the large-diameter 950-mL can.

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