Another shortage! Beer, soda makers struggle with aluminum can supply, plan to limit niche drinks

As beer and soda consumption shifts from restaurants to homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, beverage companies and canmakers are having a hard time keeping up.

A shortage of aluminum cans is crimping supplies of certain drinks, industry officials said.

"Aluminum cans are in very tight supply with so many people buying more multi-pack products to consume at home," Coca-Cola spokesperson Ann Moore said Wednesday in an email.

Can manufacturers announced plans to build at least three factories within the next 18 months, but that won't solve the immediate supply issues.

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Much like manufacturers weren't prepared for a sudden rush of Americans buying toilet paper in the early days of the pandemic, canmakers and beverage companies weren't ready for drink consumption to go from the tap to the home.

"The can industry is working 24/7 on meeting the unprecedented demand," said Robert Budway, president of the Can Manufacturers Institute, the industry's trade association.

The raw material for aluminum can production is not in short supply. It's the capacity to produce the cans that's lacking.

“The aluminum beverage can manufacturing industry has seen unprecedented demand for this environmentally friendly container prior to and especially during the COVID-19 pandemic," the Aluminum Association, an industry group representing the metal's manufacturers, said in a statement. "Many new beverages are coming to market in cans, and other long-standing can customers are moving away from plastic bottles due to ongoing environmental concerns around plastic pollution. Consumers also appear to be favoring the portability and storability of cans as they spend more time at home.”

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Canmaker Ball Corp. will open two new plants in America by the end of 2021 and add two production lines to U.S. facilities. In the short term, the company is working with its foreign plants to distribute cans to the North American market.

Ball spokesperson Renee Robinson said the company experienced increasing demand for aluminum cans before COVID-19 from a surge of interest in hard seltzer and sparkling water. COVID-19 ushered in an "unprecedented surge in demand" and "short supply" of certain canned drinks, Robinson said in an email.

In some cases, beverage makers suspended output of products that sell in low volumes, so they can focus on their bestsellers. Beer maker Molson Coors did this in May amid what it called an "unprecedented shortage of 12-ounce recyclable aluminum cans."

"We’ve been working with our distributors to try to manage it, we’ve been getting as many cans as possible from our suppliers, we’ve literally scoured the globe to source more cans from countries around the world, and we’re now seeing progress on the supply of 12-ounce industry-standard cans," Molson Coors chief communication officer Adam Collins said in an emailed statement.

Coca-Cola's main Twitter account responded to customers who couldn't find niche products such as Cherry Coke Zero and Pibb.

"We are working to have more stocked for you on the shelves ASAP," the company said.

PepsiCo CEO Ramon Laguarta told analysts in a conference call Monday that the company "made some choices in our supply chain" to "eliminate the less" popular items in its lineup for now.

He did not say which products or specifically attribute the decision to a shortage of cans. He acknowledged experiencing general "supply chain challenges," which have gripped a wide range of food and beverage companies.

PepsiCo referred questions to the American Beverage Association, which represents nonalcoholic-drink makers.

“Beverages in convenient take-home packages like aluminum cans are particularly popular right now, and beverage company employees are doing all they can to make sure store shelves remain fully stocked," William Dermody Jr., the ABA's vice president for media and public affairs, said in an email.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.