Crown wins IMDA Award for two craft beer can designs

The Sunny & Share Citrus Saison from Mad & Noisy Brewing of Creemore, Ontario, Canada was named overall Best of Category.

Recognizing the company’s excellence in creating unique and impactful packaging designs, multiple business units of Crown Holdings took home top honors in the International Metal Decorators Association’s (IMDA) Excellence in Quality awards competition. Crown Beverage Packaging North America won two awards in the craft can category: the overall Best of Category Award and the Award of Excellence.

Crown was honored with the Award of Excellence in Craft Cans for the company’s work on a 12-oz can design for 4000 Footer IPA, brewed by New Hampshire-based Woodstock Inn Station & Brewery. Taking its name from the many mountains in New Hampshire that surpass 4,000 feet, the graphics feature a dog wearing sunglasses and a bandana and the slogan “Great taste from a special place!” A true team effort, Crown worked closely with Woodstock Inn & Brewery to adapt and optimize the brewery’s artwork to achieve the best quality representation on the can. The final cans were manufactured at Crown’s plant in Cheraw, S.C.

“Working with the Crown team has been a terrific experience — from the design stage to final production,” said Scott Rice, owner of Woodstock Inn & Brewery. “Crown offered comprehensive support, making sure that all of the graphic elements were reproduced crisply and accurately on the can in order to capture the spirit and flavor of our 4000 Footer IPA.”

According to the Brewers Association, U.S. craft beer retail dollar value growth increased by more than 20 percent in 2013 over 2012. With so many new labels being introduced each year, on-shelf competition is growing, making differentiation through innovative packaging designs more important than ever. A second Crown design — developed for the Sunny & Share Citrus Saison from Mad & Noisy Brewing of Creemore, Ontario, Canada — was named overall Best of Category — Craft. The 16-oz cans, which feature a vibrant design centered on a golden ampersand, supported by a cheerful color palette that accurately represents the brand’s playful name, were developed at Crown’s Fort Bend, Texas, facility.

“We were honored to be nominated by the IMDA, but it is incredibly gratifying to have received not one, but two awards in the craft beer category,” said Brian Thiel, Craft Brand Manager at Crown Beverage Packaging North America. “At Crown, we actively support the adoption of aluminum beverage cans by the craft beer industry as they give brands an opportunity to differentiate and stand out on store shelves.”

The awards were presented at IMDA’s annual conference in Bloomingdale, Ill.