Bengaluru: United Breweries (UB), India’s largest beer company and maker of popular brands like Kingfisher and Heineken, is facing a serious shortage of aluminium cans — and it’s affecting business.
According to the company’s Managing Director, Vivek Gupta, UB has lost around 1–2 percentage points of growth over the past six months because it hasn’t been able to get enough cans to meet rising consumer demand. More and more people are choosing to drink beer from cans rather than glass bottles, but supply hasn’t kept up.
“Cans are a growing segment, but there’s no quick fix for the shortage,” said Gupta during a recent analyst call. “It’s a challenge not just for us, but for the entire industry.”
Impact on Sales
Despite the can shortage, UB still managed to grow its overall sales volume by 11% in the first quarter of the financial year. The company also gained market share in both regular and premium beer categories — with premium beer sales jumping 46%.
However, Gupta admitted that frequent stockouts—due to a lack of cans—have held back even stronger growth.
“Whether it’s beer or other products, the supply of cans is limited,” he said. “There’s a fixed quota available, but the demand is higher than what the market can provide.”
Importing Cans is Not a Quick Fix
UB is now considering importing aluminium cans, but that process could take time. The company is working with global suppliers to secure a long-term solution. It’s also calling for better backward integration in the beer industry to ensure a more stable supply of packaging materials like cans and glass bottles.
In its 2024-25 annual report, the company highlighted the ongoing supply challenges for both new glass bottles and cans in India. To manage the risk, UB is partnering with new and alternative suppliers to build a more resilient procurement strategy.
Financial Performance
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Profit (June quarter): ₹184 crore (up 6% year-on-year)
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Net Sales: ₹2,862 crore (up 16% compared to ₹2,477 crore last year)
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Investments: ₹136 crore, mainly for commercial and supply chain improvement
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By Economy times
