Plastic cans made their food-industry debut more than a decade ago, but the packaging never advanced beyond test-market curiosity.
Sky-high material costs were the reason, according to David Andrulonis, director of food & beverage products at Toledo, Ohio-based Owens-Illinois Plastics Group. Process refinements and new barrier materials have helped drive down costs to a point where the price premium is sufficiently low to make PET cans a packaging option, at least for niche products and special promotions, he says.