Ball Corporation, a USA-based global leader in aluminium packaging, has expanded its business by producing aluminium cups since 2019. Ball aluminium cups are meant to be sturdy and are a better alternative to plastic cups used in public places or gatherings. Ball's USP lies in the total recyclability of these aluminium cups, as they can be rinsed, reused, and recycled.
Emily Fong Mitchell, the president and general manager of Ball Aluminium Cups, has expressed the company's interest in expanding its aluminium cups business to food service and hospitality venues, such as a ski resort in Colorado. The goal is to introduce an alternative to single-use plastic that can be used at scale. This move signals a rise in corporate interest in options to single-use plastic.
Specification of Ball aluminium cups
The cups were initially produced for stadiums, but Ball has since expanded the business to different venues, including its own Ball Arena in Denver, Red Rocks Amphitheater, and SoFi Stadium. The cups are available in different sizes, ranging from nine to 24 ounces and can be purchased on Amazon and in about 35,000 U.S. retail locations.
What is the aluminium cup division affiliated to?
Fong Mitchell revealed that the cups business is treated like a startup within the 140-year-old company and has shown continued growth year-over-year. On average, three to five venues adopt the cups each month. However, the transition requires more widespread adoption to become economically viable.
"We see that in the number of new customers that we're signing up, either that are revenues or consumers in places like Amazon and e-commerce," Mitchell asserted.
Overview of Ball Corporation and adjoining businesses: why does the packaging sector hold weightage?
Ball Corporation is a major producer of aluminium bespoke solutions for consumer goods and aerospace technologies. The company has a significant market share in beverage packing in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and South America. Since 2000, the company has shifted its focus towards sustainability to encourage using eco-friendly materials. In 2022, 87% of Ball's revenue came from aluminium packaging. The company's cups business is one example of a corporation replacing single-use plastic in food and beverage. However, these efforts can be expensive and require behavioural changes that don't happen in a flick.
How important is the aluminium cup business for USA's Ball Corporation?
Ball Corporation's cups business falls under the non-reportable section; hence, the company's exact sales figures are not publicly available. However, the CEO, Daniel Fisher, stated during the second-quarter earnings call that he expects the business to grow by around $10 million. He cited the proposed regulatory bans on single-use plastic and the potential growth from stadium deals as opportunities for growth.
Ball's CEO, Daniel Fisher, exclaimed: "You need the big inflexion point to come out of food service. We're bullish on the conversations, but a couple of those transactions and wins need to happen for us to really inflect toward breaking even. We're doing better this year than last. We'll do better next year. I need one or two significant wins for us to get back to break even. But it's not that far away. But until you execute that trade, it's not in the near term."
Introduction of Ball aluminium cups in heavily infested public places
Emily Fong Mitchell, the President and General Manager of Ball Aluminium Cups, mentioned that getting stadiums and venues to start selling the cups is often an inbound transaction. While the cups come with a higher price tag, the costs can be mitigated by advertising opportunities to get sponsors for the cups. Others might build it into the cost of the cup, which consumers may overlook in the already inflated prices for venues.
Fong Mitchell also stated that demand for these products is likely to rise as Gen Z begins to wield more spending power, as younger shoppers are more likely to choose sustainable products as long as the product performance is still excellent and convenient for them.
External non-profit organisation Upstream, CEO's view
Crystal Dreisbach, who is the CEO of Upstream, a non-profit organisation advocating for the shift towards reuse, believes that replacing single-use items in venue settings is an effective way to encourage the broader transition to reusable items, given the large number of people they serve. Dreisbach also emphasises the importance of for-profit enterprises providing evidence that their sustainable alternatives have a lower environmental impact than reusable items. This evidence is necessary to support the claim that their alternatives are sustainable.
The CEO at Upstream clarified: "Stadiums have the advantage of having high volume, which is how you make the economics work with reusable."
"Yet making items out of aluminium is only environmentally beneficial if those items wind up getting recycled. In this case, the user must get the cup in the right receptacle and have a system to collect and recycle it. Unless you're absolutely ensuring a closed loop system, recyclable materials can give a false perception that something is environmentally sound," Dreisbach pointed out.
The future outlook for Ball Aluminium Cup and its probable mission plan
Fong Mitchell proudly announced that Ball aluminium cups are comprised of 90 per cent secondary or recycled aluminium and can be repurposed after use. In the near future, Ball expects to work with sustainable stadiums and venues that use recyclable cups after determining where to install recycling bins and what kind of signage helps encourage recycling.
Ball Aluminium Cup's Vision
The company has a goal to see a global recycling rate of 90 per cent for cups, bottles and aluminium. The partnership with stadiums and event venues can help shift overall behaviours as visitors notice the cups and purchase them for their own use.
"The trend is there," Fong Mitchell concluded with an optimistic note.
If the world of recycled aluminium interests you, please have a look at AL Circle's special report, World Recycled Aluminium Market Analysis. But if you are intrigued to know more about the American aluminium sector and its leading aluminium brands, please spare some of your precious time on AL Circle's free e-Magazine, The Aluminium Industry, Focus Americas.
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