For brewers, the cost of producing a can of beer increased considerably due to customs duties of 50 % on aluminum imposed by the Trump administration, which could promote the return of the good old reusable glass bottle, practically disappeared from the shelves.
“Brewers really like the standard glass bottle bottle, but it is not us who decide, it will be the consumer,” says the spokesperson for the big active brewers in Quebec, Molson Coors, Labatt and Sleeman.
The consumer has already decided. For 10 years, the glass bottle has been erased in favor of the aluminum can, which today represents 80 % of the beer market. The price of aluminum increases in the United States, but also in Canada due to customs duties imposed by the Trump administration.
Even if aluminum is produced in Quebec, all beer cans sold in Quebec are made in the United States. US manufacturers are subjected directly to the impact of customs duties by 50 % and transmit this additional cost to their customers.
The latter swallow it as a way. Molson Coors plans that his cans will cost him between 20 and 35 million US more in the next six months.
For the microbrewers of Quebec, the invoice is not of the same magnitude. The total production of Quebec microbreweries is 500,000 hectoliters per year, while in its own, the Molson Coors factory in Longueuil produces five times more, or 2.5 million hectoliters.
The increase in the cost of cans may hurt them more. An estimated increase of approximately 10 cents per can will be difficult to support the price of their products without increase, estimates the spokesperson for their association, Marie-Ève Myrand.
For microbreweries, the current context is not very conducive to an increase in prices, she analyzes. Not only do Quebecers drink less, but “as we know that the economy is more tense and that money is less available,” she said.
The microbrewers adopted the aluminum can to please consumers, but also to retailers who were tired of managing the reusable bottles. “We were told: you will come back when you are in the can,” she recalls.
Now that they have their place on the tablets of the big brands, the microbreweries do not intend to go back, according to her, because the cost would be too high.
“They have invested a lot of money in equipment for cans and several have left their traffic jam facilities,” recalls Marie-Ève Myrand.
The 50 % customs duties that have flambé the price of aluminum may be temporary, hope the brewers, the adults and the little ones.
What if the current situation became permanent? “There will be decisions to make,” says Philippe Roy, on behalf of the big brewers.
