Hindalco, Ball Beverage and Can-Pack join forces to form ABCAI

Hindalco Industries, Ball Beverage Packaging and Can-Pack India launch India’s first-of-its-kind consortium, Aluminium Beverages Can Association of India (ABCAI), with an aim to increase the annual per capita beverage can consumption from one can to eight cans by 2030.

12 Jul 2019 | By Abhishek Muralidharan

ABCAI’s goal is to build sustainable aluminium beverage packaging practices that will have a quantum positive impact on business, environment and society.

Satish Pai, managing director, Hindalco Industries, said, “We are delighted to partner with Ball Beverage Packaging and Can-Pack to launch ABCAI. This association is one of the ways to fulfil Hindalco’s purpose – ‘Manufacture materials that make the world greener –stronger – smarter’. Aluminium cans deliver many benefits to the consumer in one small package – faster cooling, tamper-proof nature, easy to carry and dispose of. All of this aligns with our vision to give the customer an unmatched experience.”

As a part of the roadmap, ABCAI will commission studies to showcase the benefits of beverage cans in logistics, refrigeration, water and power conservation.  The studies will help to drive the framing, development, and dissemination of best practices for the beverage packaging industry.

Harsh Vardhan Jajoo, managing director and CEO, Can-Pack India, said, “The launch of ABCAI is a vital step towards initiating mutually beneficial and positive dialogue within the aluminium beverage packaging ecosystem. With the rise in urbanisation and evolving taste and preference of the Indian consumers, the packaged food segment is on an exponent growth trajectory.”

In addition to this, ABCAI intends to collaborate with government, corporate, trade bodies and consumers, and increase awareness about the economic and environmental benefits of aluminium beverage packaging.

Prakash Nedungadi, group head, consumer insights and brand development, Aditya Birla Group, said, “Aluminium as a packing medium offers significant advantages across the lifecycle including transportation, storage and disposal.” 

According to Nedungadi, an aluminium can weigh just 15 grams whereas a glass bottle, on an average, weighs over 200 grams. Trucks carrying cans are able to transport twice as much liquid as a truck loaded with bottles with much lesser leakage or breakage. 

Jajoo said, “Our association will act as a supplement to the businesses that are willing to grow sustainably. We believe that this consortium will offer an open platform for administrations and corporates to come together and develop frameworks that will gel with the changing consumer consumption patterns and at the same time develop a sustainable business model.”

Also, at the retail or end-use locations, space efficiency and faster cooling results in lower greenhouse gas emissions. “Being recyclable, a user can is able to return to the shelf as a new can in just 60 days. All these advantages make aluminium beverage packing ideally suited for the fast-growing Indian beverage market,“ added Nedungadi.

Amit Lahoti, managing director, India, Ball Beverage Packaging, said, “We are pleased to announce the launch of ABCAI. Through this association, we intend to build awareness about the aluminium beverage packaging that will highlight innovation, performance, sustainability and economic value among our key stakeholders. Our goal is to provide sustainable packaging solutions to help beverage companies succeed while having a quantum positive impact on the environment, businesses, consumers and society." 

ABCAI’s goal is to build sustainable aluminium beverage packaging practices that will have a quantum positive impact on business, environment and society.