UK: British Glass has “no concern” over beer bottle supply

British Glass says it has “no concern” over beer bottle supply in the UK despite warnings of a shortage of glassware due to rising energy costs from a Scottish food and drink wholesaler, letsrecycle.com reported on May 27.

Dunns Food and Drinks told media outlets that suppliers were experiencing problems sourcing glassware due to its energy intensive production, pushing prices 80% higher during the past year and sending stocks tumbling.

The wholesaler claims some brewers may be forced to switch to different containers for their products as a result.

British Glass is the trade association representing the interests of primary glass manufacturers and the glass supply-chain.

Dave Dalton, British Glass’s CEO, told letsrecycle.com: “British Glass has no concern over the beer bottle supply in the UK. This has been confirmed by our members and does not support the stories which suggest a threat of shortage.

“It is the case that there is a high demand for beer bottles across Europe, which could lead to a knock-on effect, but it doesn’t appear that there will be a shortage of bottles produced in the UK based on current demand.”

Mr Dalton added that the ongoing energy crisis had not had any “direct” impact on the current price or availability of cullet in the UK.

However, he noted: “Cullet is less readily available than before Covid due to a number of factors including increasing demand, PRN prices and falling consumption within the hospitality sectors in favour of home consumption.”

Mr Dalton said one of British Glass’s members had confirmed that their production capacity had actually increased during the last few years. The member now makes “well over” three billion bottles for the UK and Irish markets, he said.

“While we do appreciate energy price increases have had an impact on the price of glass, it is significantly less than the 80% increase that has been quoted,” Mr Dalton told letsrecycle.com.

“There is more than enough glass to meet demand, which the industry does not foresee changing.”

Dunns Food and Drinks’ warning follows a similar recent message from the German Brewers’ Association, which claimed there could be a beer bottle shortage this summer amid rising production costs and a lack of lorry drivers.

Some Scottish brewers have already switched to cans due to rising packaging prices. Edinburgh-based Vault City Brewing says it will sell most of its beers in cans instead of bottles from June.

The brewer said it was paying about 65p for a glass bottle, representing a 30% increase from six months ago.

27 May, 2022