The metal packaging market is continuing to grow in France and is continuing to gain ground on other beverage packaging formats.

In 2 years, sales have jumped by +9.5% in volume, beyond the growth of the beer and soft drinks market (+6.5%). Last year, 22.3% of drinks were sold in cans, i.e. an increase in market share of +0.5 points since 2019.

Between 2020 and 2021, beverage cans have progressed faster (+4.1%) than plastic (+0.5%) and glass (+3.3%) bottles despite the reopening of bars, cafes, restaurants and the resumption of on-site consumption.

From the 15cl mini-can to the 50cl max, all formats are on the rise, with a sales boom of +20.5% for 25 cl.

In 2021, 9 out of 10 hard seltzers were launched in cans. Beverage boxes are also shaking up the codes of traditional markets: the year was marked by the arrival of multiple offers of wines in cans, speciality beers and even waters.

Soft drinks: drivers of can sales in stores

The increase in can sales was driven by the success of soft-drink cans, which continued to win market share over other beverage packaging.

In 2 years, between 2019 and 2021, their sales have increased by +15% in volume. If we focus on 2021, can sales increased by +7.3% in volume compared to 2020: almost 3 times more than the market (+2.6%)! All segments are affected by the increase.

In 2 years, the share of cans in sales of soft drinks in stores has gained 2 points, from 19.9% ​​in 2019 to 21.9% in volume today: a historic share.

Energy Drinks and fruit drinks: the can boom

In the soft drinks market, while sales of cans are booming in all segments, last year they recorded marked increases in Energy Dinks and Still Fruit Drinks (BAFP), with growth two digits.

In 2021, sales of Energy drinks in cans notably jumped by +25% in volume compared to 2020 (all packaging: +24.8%).

Fruit drinks sold in cans also experienced spectacular growth at +16.7% (all packaging: +6.1%). 

Canned water: a confirmed trend

Sales of canned flavoured water thus recorded an increase of +6% in volume, on a global market at +2%. Canned sparkling water, for its part, jumped by +9% in volume, on a global market at -6%!

More than 2 out of 10 beers sold in cans

In 2021, the French bought 23% of their beers in cans for consumption at home.

A market share down slightly by 0.3 points compared to 2020 due to the drop in consumption of so-called “luxury” beers, in which the can is strongly present and whose sales in all packaging fell by -11 .9% in volume over 1 year.

On the other hand, sales of beer cans are exploding in non-alcoholic beers, with +55% sales in volume between 2020 and 2021 and continue to grow in speciality beers (abbey beers, all flavoured beers, etc.). : +5.4% in volume between 2020 and 2021 and +7% between 2019 and 2021.

Success of cans in supermarkets and convenience stores

While can sales recorded their strongest growth on online sales sites (+11% in a market at +11.4%), it was on traditional channels that they drove the drinks market.

Their sales increased by +6.6% in convenience stores, vs. +4.5% for the market. In hypermarkets, they increased by +5.9% vs. +2.9% for the market.

Finally, sales of beverage cans also increased faster than the market in supermarkets: +5.5% vs. +2.3%.