Tecate Taps CCL Container to Cash in on Bottlecan Demand

Often consumed with lime and salt by its fans, Tecate was first brewed by Alberto Aldrete in 1944 when he took over an old brick building just south of the border from California. Aldrete named his new brew after the town and it quickly became popular throughout Baja, California for its full rich flavor. In 1954 the brewery was sold to Cerveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma, but it is still produced in the Tecate Brewery.

Although far from being the first Latin American beverage to utilize aluminum in its bottling, the introduction of Tecate in a bottlecan is considered a breakthrough for aluminum packaging south of the border according to a spokesperson for CCL Container, the company that pioneered aluminum bottling for the beer industry.

In 2006, the pride of the Dominican Republic, Presidente beer, partnered with CCL to put its premium product in an aluminum bottle that features glow-in-the-dark graphics. Mexico got its first look at a re-sealable aluminum container back in 2005, with the introduction of HOT Hangover Tea, made with herb extracts and amino acids, and distributed in a CCL aluminum bottle.

In 2000, the Japanese first introduced the aluminum bottle, but demand did not reach explosive proportions until CCL Container made a major investment in the technology necessary to make production practical.

Shortly afterward, CCL won a Worldstar Packaging Award for its Aluminum Crown Finish Beer Bottle designed for the Pittsburgh Brewing Company in 2002. CCL put the brewer’s flagship lager, Iron City, into its aluminum bottle, making Iron City Lager the world’s first beer to convert from glass to aluminum. That conversion also put CCL at the forefront of the movement by brewers to utilize impact-extruded aluminum in lieu of glass bottles.

Since then, a growing number of marketers – from global brands to niche players – have adopted and successfully used aluminum bottling, and for good reason. Aluminum is lightweight, unbreakable and meets the demands of our green-conscious society in that it is 100% recyclable.

The insulating properties of aluminum bottlers are also superior to glass and plastic, so beverages in aluminum cool faster and stay cold longer. In addition, aluminum bottlecans by CCL offer the option of proprietary, food-grade, and internal and external linings to protect product taste and purity.

Beyond functionality, the aesthetic advantages of aluminum bottles also factor in heavily. Aluminum packaging offers the ability to carry high impact graphics not possible on glass. And aluminum bottles from CCL Container are available in a choice of industry-standard, re-sealable closure systems: Crown, CT-38, and CT-28.

A major advance in providing marketers with a competitive edge came with the CCL Container’s perfection of top-to-bottom shaping, bringing a new dimension to container aesthetics and ergonomics. New curves and contours complement the high-impact graphics made possible by the advanced inline printing systems at CCL, which have become one of the company’s recognized strengths industry wide.

To date, CCL’s bottles have been successfully used for new product launches, limited-edition promotions, product line extensions, and as the catalyst for brand revitalization.

For more information about CCL Container's aluminum bottles, please visit: www.bottlecan.com.

For additional information on CCL Container, please visit: www.cclcontainer.com.