(Barbados Nation) Banks beer in a can has become increasingly popular in the six months that it has been available to the Barbadian public, and is expected to perform well over the coming months.
Meanwhile, the production of Banks beer in the PET (plastic) bottles has come to a halt with the final batch produced about a month ago.
Banks Holdings Limited (BHL) group marketing manager Bernard Frost told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY that the canned beer “has caught on, so much so that we have discontinued the plastic bottle beers”, and said he was expecting sales of the canned beer to continue trending up.
“Once the new brewery was commissioned and the can line was up, our plan was always to discontinue the plastic bottle package. Plastic was a suitable alternative but now that we have cans, it is even a better alternative,” said Frost. He also noted that beer in a can was “very well received”.
“We didn’t give it the full attention that we probably should have, but I think it’s a very popular package and people are very happy to have it. There isn’t anybody I have spoken to who doesn’t like it.
“It is the same lovely Banks beer, it is just the preference of the consumer whether they like glass bottles or cans.
“So we are largely satisfied by the uptake and I think it is going to continue to do well and more people will probably switch over to it as time goes on,” said Frost.
“More than anything else, it is a bit of innovation and a bit of novelty. So I think quite a few people have made the transition from either glass or plastic to the cans.
“The truth is that it is more expensive than the bottled beer because there is a little more beer in the case and also because the packaging demands a slightly higher price,” he said.
While he had no figures to show how well the sales have been over the months since its release on February 20, Frost said the canned beer had “definitely taken the place of a convenience package away from the plastic bottle beer”.
“It is a lot lighter, for one. It obviously takes up less space in storage or in your car or wherever you want to put it. It is far more portable and convenient,” he said.