Looks like it’s chucking-out time for small drinks suppliers.

This week’s warnings of bottle shortages will be depressing reading for the UK’s once prosperous smaller booze brands, which are already facing surging costs and in many cases, have still not recovered from the pandemic. 

The price of glass bottles has risen by as much as 80%, Scottish wholesaler Dunns Food & Drinks said this week. Meanwhile, union Unite is planning strike action at the Crown Bevcan factory in Carlisle, which it says could adversely impact the supply of canned drinks over the summer.

Issues like these are frustrating but not world-ending for larger suppliers, who have the resources and revenue to help them weather the storm. But for smaller players they can be disastrous. 

Focusing on the bottle shortage in particular, it’s hard to imagine it coming at a worse time for smaller booze brands, which are already closing at a rate of knots. 

Take the recent demise of Kelham Island, Fallen Brewing and Beatnikz Republic. Or the news, just this week, that Heineken is to close its historic Caledonian Brewery One supplier, speaking to The Grocer this week, described the current climate for challenger brands as “f***ing horrendous” and “like the wild west”.

So what’s to be done? Some businesses are absorbing the costs, but most smaller suppliers simply don’t have the gravitas to take price increases through to supermarket buyers.

Others, meanwhile – like Edinburgh-based Vault City – are converting from glass bottles to cans to ensure consistent supply. But they might just be kicking the can down the road.

Because bottled beer brands moving into aluminium cans could put even more pressure on an already limited supply of that commodity. According to our supplier source, there is simply “no room” for any additional suppliers to use cans.

It’s not just beer brands sending demand for cans sky-high. Wine brands – including the likes of Adria Vini and Hardys – are also venturing into the format. According to the source, all 187ml aluminium can allocations – usually the size of choice for canned wines – have already been snapped up for “the next four production runs”.

Adding insult to injury, there’s the fact that co-packers are prioritising large orders, giving the drinks giants an even greater advantage over small brands. Or, as the source puts it: “You have to remember that we’re in the queue behind Coke.”

Of course, this makes sense for those packers. But it’s hard not to sympathise with the innovative smaller players being left out in the cold. 

Because the outlook for drinks suppliers who fail to secure allocations is bleak. They risk shorting orders, losing listings and at worst, losing their businesses altogether.

Britain’s independent booze brands are some of the most innovative in the world. Let’s just hope they’ve got some tricks up their sleeves to navigate this hurricane.

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