The Bevcraft Group is a craft can specialist in Europe. The group was established in Ireland in 2016 by Ciarán Gorman and Darren Fenton, and today Bevcraft has a variety of can operations (beyond mobile canning) across Ireland, the United Kingdom, Norway and the Netherlands. That network is growing, as the company has been in expansion mode lately. In March of 2022, Bevcraft acquired Them That Can, one of the first mobile canning operations in the United Kingdom. Last December, Bevcraft announced the completion of a merger transaction with Heidrun Tapperi AS, the leading mobile canning business in Norway. But it’s not just Europe — Bevcraft has its sights on the American canning industry as well.

This week Bevcaft Group announced the acquisition of the mobile canning business of Tripod Canning LLC based in Kenilworth, New Jersey, as part of what it’s calling a “multi-million-dollar U.S. investment program,” according to the press release. Tripod’s mobile fleet, equipment and crews will join Bevcraft USA, a subsidiary aimed a serving craft beverage producers and breweries across America, starting with six states — New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and Connecticut. From the release:

Commenting Darren Fenton, COO of the Bevcraft Group, said: “Quality-led mobile canning has from the outset been at the heart of what we do at Bevcraft. We are delighted to welcome the Tripod team into our group and to embark on the next chapter of growth in the USA. We have always believed in a quality-led, service-driven approach to mobile canning, and we are very excited to bring a fresh approach to a market we have always considered one of the most innovative and dynamic in the world. Craft beer has come a long way since the very first mobile canners popped up more than a decade ago. Our job is to iterate and improve by making quality mobile canning as convenient, cost- effective and flexible as possible for breweries as they scale and to inject more competition into the market. We believe in freedom from rigid contracts and have always offered a truly flexible commitment-free solution for our clients.”

In Europe, Bevcraft is not just a mobile canning company. It provides a range of services including mobile contract canning, can distribution, can decoration, testing, servicing and training. Bevcraft also operates Europe’s first digital can printing facility at its Peterborough site in England. Via its various bases, the company provides mobile canning across Europe from Ireland, Norway, the UK and the Netherlands as well as operating can decoration and digital printing plants, wholesale depots, static canning facilities and quality control labs.

This big step into American mobile canning is situated in the New York-Philadelphia corridor and within easy reach of major cities along the East Coast. According to the press release, Bevcraft’s investment in New Jersey has been supported by Enterprise Ireland and Choose New Jersey (the latter a nonprofit organization that helps companies and corporations expand their business into the United States and New Jersey). Via the press release:

Commenting on this, Ciarán Gorman, CFO of the Bevcraft Group, said; “Ireland and the USA have an incredible shared history that to this very day includes our own close family ties across the USA including in New Jersey and New York. As part of this transaction we have appointed Conor Bowden, an Irish-American from New York, as our US Commercial Director and we look forward to collaboration with our international teams in supporting the US operation.

America is the global leader in Craft Beer and we have for many years worked with excellent US supply chain partners. Ultimately our business is in the valued added manufacturing sector and specifically in a category that is built around local on-shore production. Craft Beer delivers quality local manufacturing jobs wherever it goes, and we are excited about continued investment in American manufacturing.”

Transaction Details

Considerations for the transaction were not disclosed. What was disclosed? Acquisition management and integration will be led by Conor Bowden and Henry Reilly who are part of Bevcraft’s senior management team. This is the third M&A deal completed by Bevcraft in the past 18 months.