Hi everyone, new to the forum as a poster, been reading for a long time so this is my first post. I live in a market where there is a fairly large number of breweries within a 40 mile radius (50+). I am currently considering starting a mobile canning business to accommodate the obvious can boom in the market. We do have one canner about 60 miles away but they do not do much business in the area due to demand in their own area. Most breweries do not own their own canning line. I came to the forum for advice on the concept, I know it is working in other areas but as with any new business I am nervous to make the leap. My concept would essentially have me sinking in money for a machine, large van or sprinter for transport, and normal admin startup costs. I am currently having trouble seeing a downside to the idea so thought it would be good to get some input from the rest of the beer geek community. Thanks in advance! Shawn
Welcome to the BA site, canned. We're glad that you're here. Your question will probably get some good responses here, but I think you'll get an audience that is more knowledgeable at http://www.probrewer.com/. I'd give them a try.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/issues-with-mobile-canning-lines.488478/ https://www.beeradvocate.com/articles/8294/mobile-canning/ A quick search (term = mobile canning) on BA yielded these two results among others. Run the search, poke through the findings. I know there has been a ton of discussion about this topic, but it may be embedded in other threads not dedicated to the topic. I think there are two main camps - one sees mobile canning as high risk, others who do not, and of course there is middle ground. FWIW, I am an experienced engineer in the food business and am of the opinion that equipment does not like to be moved about. While there is inherently nothing "wrong" with mobile canning, the equipment has to be designed to "take it" and there needs to be a high level of expertise when it comes to set up and operation. The brewery also needs to ensure that the product is ready for packaging, and I believe they should have specifications in place for things like Total Package Oxygen. Also FWIW, I have had three incidents of exploding cans in my house. Two were from the same brewery, and the second set that exploded were replacements for the first set that exploded. This brewery now has their own on-site canning line. The other brewery has their own equipment, or at least co-packs where the equipment is bolted down. Root cause of the explosions remains unknown, at least to me, but could be poor sanitation of the packaging line (contamination) or incomplete fermentation of the beer.
Hey Shawn, your idea seems to have merit but I suggest first make sure you have sufficient financing.
Thanks for the welcome, I looked over there but didn't seem to be a ton of forum activity, I will post there as well!
Thanks for the info, I also have an engineering background (not so much on production like this though). And agree equipment does not love to be moved. Currently I am looking into wildgoose systems which seem to have a very good backing/pedigree in the canning world. They sell a couple mobile units which are a bit pricey but that is ok... Interesting hearing of your exploding can scenario, obviously it could be a multitude of things.
My first stop would be to actually talk to brewery owners and see if they would pay for that service.
I think your first step would be to speak with local breweries and ask if they would ever consider the idea. I would also have costing available for them when they ask well maybe but what do you charge and have a total breakdown for them. The other item of importance is your experience level. You would be handling their product so I am sure they would want someone with a solid background and proven track record, its their name on the product after all. Honestly I am not picking but I think there is a lot more involved with this concept outside the simple items. Not to mention the ability to handle multiple orders with a deadline, would you have enough output to do that etc. Good luck.
I am actively involved in this right now, my first step was to talk to the largest volume brewer here in town and see if they have interest. What is most interesting is the biggest guys in town do not have a canning line, while a couple others do (which have a fraction of the capacity). I have sat down with both of them to discuss and the smaller thinks it to his benefit to invest in his own line where he gets lines out the door for releases. The other who is more of a volume dealer sub's out to a third party who's time is tough to find. This is why I think we have a hole in the market. Again I really appreciate all of your input.
Also - I'd like to acknowledge the concept of experience, I have some...Have always brewed, and bottled, but admittedly have not run a full production canning line. I do have a technical background with machines and think this would not be that difficult to learn with the proper training. Wild goose offers training with the purchase of their machines, that would be instrumental in the initial stages. The biggest thing I do have on my side is that the largest brewery in our area is willing to work with me as a pilot program. I am looking at an initial 100k+ investment on this, so an initial partner is a big deal, esp someone who could take up almost all of my capacity.
I would advise against it... For one, many breweries that started canning are finding it hard to get their beers on the shelves since there are so many beers out there already. Two, there are at least two companies that already exist as mobile canning companies that are expanding to have operations in more states and at least one of them is planning on having lines that are available for use in the 48 continental states. That particular one has modified their Wild Goose lines to be able to do 60 cpm with TPO being under 50 ppb, they don't charge a setup fee, and are less expensive than every other canning company I've seen (I've worked with two different ones myself and have had multiple others reach out to me with pricing). Hell, I get frustrated with our unit price on cans and we own our line. Almost every brewery that I know of that does do mobile canning only does so until they can afford their own line. No matter how you slice it, paying for a mobile company to package your beer is throwing away money. My friend has a mobile business that serves over 100 breweries. 40 breweries that he's worked with have moved onto buying their own lines. He's fortunate to have a constant supply of breweries that use other more expensive canners, so he just steals their business when he loses customers. The only exceptions I know to that rule are breweries that have space restrictions and even that can be worked around for most of us. Without having experience, you will get a lot of blame anytime something goes wrong... Be prepared to have a brewery with under attenuated beer go into cans and blow up on the shelves. Next thing you know, you're blamed for contaminating their beer (even though it wasn't your fault). Unless you spend money on equipment to test your line (At a minimum, an ATP luminometer) this will happen and it will happen quickly. A packaging line is the only piece of equipment that I would never purchase used. Most breweries don't want to share because of the high likelihood of cross contaminations which is also part of the reason that mobile canning is normally a temporary solution for brewers. You'll be asked right away what your DO levels are... Do you plan to buy a DO meter? There's another $12k unless you buy an inexpensive, inaccurate budget meter for about $6k+ accessories. When a brewery borrows one and tests a can at 600 ppb, what will you do without being able to prove that they introduced 70% of the oxygen due to poor transferring? All they will see is 600 ppb and the blame is again put on you. Lastly, packaging sucks. Be prepared to have breweries that cancel their canning days because the beer isn't ready or to start hours late because the beer is the wrong carbonation level and needs adjusting. Then you're standing around waiting and not getting paid and you've got a long day ahead of you when you finally do get started.
The other thing I might suggest, if you';re still considering it, is to talk to some of the other mobile canning companies out there. Maybe not the most local one - they may take it wrong if they learned you were thinking about opening a competitor - but there are quite a few out there. See what they can tell you, if there is anything they would do differently, etc.
Don't just talk to other canners, spend full days with them watching/helping them do several mobile canning sessions. Experience what they do and the problems they deal with to know what they won't tell you.
Excellent advice. But it's not only what they might not want to tell you, more importantly it's what they won't even think of to mention except if it comes up in a real situation while coping with that situation. There's a good reason why many lines of work involve On the Job Training.
Just remember that one bad canning session could potentially sink your entire business. If you get a reputation as a canner that introduces issues into the beer (regardless of whether or not its true or if its your fault, as others in this thread have pointed out) brewers will actively avoid using your company. Most of your customers will be newer and smaller breweries who cant really afford to put out a product that will give them a bad name, and if something goes wrong that forces them into the decision of dumping a batch they will lose the money from both the cost of brewing and paying you to can. There is definitely a market for these mobile canning services and its not a bad industry to get into, but I see a good amount of risk involved. Those trainings and that experience will help, but nothings guaranteed. Your biggest challenges will be the things that you dont predict, and by the time they occur it will often be too late. Your equipment has to be functioning 100% because if you ruin a batch of beer there wont be a way to fix it.
Hi There! I just joined this forum in hopes to learn a bit of the mobile canning business. I've read through some of the threads and wanted to see where you left off. Have you started your business yet? Cheers!
