Case Study Overview
Harbour Brewing Company in Cornwall make a core range of full flavoured, balanced craft beers. Co-founder Eddie Lofthouse's aims were ...
- To can at 30 cans per minute
- Minimal down-time
Vigo supplied, installed and commissioned an American Beer Equipment LinCan™ canning line
Harbour Brewing Company, based in North Cornwall, make a core range of full flavoured, balanced craft beers, from IPAs to porters, using the finest raw materials.
Co-founder, Eddie Lofthouse's requirements was to fill carbonated beer into 330ml cans at a rate of 30 cans per minute with a facility to date stamp or lot mark.
Vigo supplied, installed and commissioned an American Beer Equipment LinCan™ canning line, which fills at a rate of 30 cans per minute, and all associated conveyoring and pipework. The canning line includes a twist rinser, 7 head filling station, seamer, rinser, airblower and packing table. To minimise oxygen pickup there is a CO2 purge, a fob pulse and under-lid CO2 jet. An ink jet printer for date coding was also supplied.
Feedback
'Flexibility of packaging is what the market dictates. Cans are convenient, they don’t break – so they’re ideal for the beach and festivals – and I love the fact that you can stick loads in the fridge! There are cost benefits too - cans are cheaper than bottles and we are able to pass these savings on to our customers. You can do anything you want with your beers [for canning] and you know that they [cans] won’t affect the product.
'Vigo has been integral to the success of our business so far. They give us good service, and the knowledge, backup, and support of their staff is excellent. We need to work to capacity and every hour and minute counts. Vigo enable us to do this with minimal down-time. I have no hesitation in recommending Vigo as a wonderful partner.
'Our sales have increased 30% since introducing cans. We are also in the latter stages of negotiation with a number of multiples, due to our strong brand and as a result of using a canning line which is CE compliant.'
Eddie Lofthouse, The Harbour Brewing Co
[Most multiples require CE compliance throughout the production process in order to pass their stringent audits. Vigo ensures that all equipment installed meets all relevant British and European H&S Directives and Standards.]
Read Harbour Brewing Co's 'We are Canning!' blog post.