Kāpiti-based brewery, Tuatara, is switching to cans in an exciting evolution that sees the brewery adapting to Kiwi craft preferences. The new cans will retain the distinctive tuatara eye design that will look right in local bars or the fridge door at home.
Sam Forrest, Senior Marketing Manager at DB Breweries, said that Tuatara first dipped its toes into the can format in late 2022, and the time was now right to shed its old skin.
"Over the last few years, we've seen a trend towards Kiwi craft drinkers preferring the can format over bottles, with 70 percent of boutique craft beer volume in New Zealand currently in cans," said Forrest.
"From a consumer point of view, convenience is a factor as they can stack easily in the fridge, plus they are easy to chuck in a bag on the way to a BBQ. As well as being easier to transport, the 330ml cans are on average 17x lighter than the original 330ml Tuatara bottles."
Forrest continued that since its fruition in 2000, Tuatara has had few creative evolutions, and the new cans offer a format the brand knows craft beer drinkers enjoy. Secondly, Tuatara is confident in New Zealander's love of the brand's beers, with Tuatara tap volumes increasing by 28 percent from 2022.
In addition to the new packaging, Tuatara is also taking the opportunity to update the range and launch a new brew into cans, Regenerate Pilsner.
"Our original pilsner put us on the map, but like every tuatara, we can regenerate."
With Tuatara's Regenerate Pilsner, it has upgraded its original Pilsner with a pilsner malt base contrasted by bold lime, grapefruit and gooseberry hop aromas.
The new format is produced on a shiny new canning line in the Kāpiti brewery. The small-footprint CraftCan Duo16 is a 16-head, dual-lane inline filler and seamer tailored for smaller craft breweries and can fill a variety of can sizes. All Tuatara boxes are still hand packed at the Kapiti brewery.
The new packaging will roll out in bars, restaurants, liquor stores and supermarkets over the coming months.
