Ball Corporation has started informing breweries in the US about an increase in the minimum order quantity per SKU for preprinted cans from their non-contracted customer base, to 1,020,000 (up from 240,000). The impact will be severe for small and medium size craft breweries, as they need to pay and store these cans themselves, once ordered and received. An option to avoid such an inventory hit, would be to use distributors, which might lead to extra costs while a second option is to use shrink-wrapped cans.
