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WHEN ASKED WHAT PACK THEY DRINK FROM MOST FOR ANY GIVEN DRINKS TYPE, A CLEAR MAJORITY ACROSS ALL MARKETS FAVOURED THE CAN FOR ENERGY AND SPORTS DRINKS. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY NOTABLE IN GERMANY, WHERE 82 PER CENT OF CONSUMERS PURCHASE ENERGY DRINKS IN A CAN European consumers, it seems, share a cluster of primary needs when it comes to drinks packaging – and according to the latest findings, the beverage can is more than delivering on those needs.Research commissioned by BCME reveals that what the European consumer wants most from packaged beverages is great taste, closely followed by value for money and ease of consumption. Importantly, consumers score the can highly on all or most of those preferences.Every four years the BCME commissions detailed analysis into consumer attitudes towards the can and alternative drinks packages as part of its strategy to ensure it is meeting consumer and – by extension – customer needs.“As an industry and for the benefit of our customers the drinks brands, it is critical that we have a deep understanding of consumer needs and their perception of our product,” explains Norman Lett, Chairman of BCME’s Marketing Committee. “That means understanding who is using the can, how often they are using the can, why they might choose the can over an alternative drinks package, and during what consumption occasions they favour the can.”While the latest research shows what Lett describes as “evolutionary” rather than “revolutionary” changes in consumer attitudes, he suggests that this demonstrates that the industry is getting it right.“In many ways it’s an endorsement of the activities that we and our country groups are engaged in. It shows that what we are doing has had a positive impact, and we can see a continuing improvement in many of the key areas that we have been targeting,” he says.Conducted by market analyst GfK, the research polled 750 consumers aged between 14 and 54 within four of Europe’s biggest markets – France, Germany, Spain and the UK. For consistency of comparisons, methodology and questions were exactly the same as with previous surveys carried out in 2007 and 2011. “What’s really effective about the methodology is that not only do we segment the actual consumer categories based principally around age and consumption occasions, but we also pick up a minimum within the categories that consume beverages – beer, carbonated soft drinks and so on,” says Lett. “It ensures that all the cross-sections are captured.”Participants were asked about their preferences for each pack type, split by product category and occasion, with the line of questioning seeking to identify what mattered most to them in relation to beverage packaging, be it recyclability, taste, ease of use, value for money and pack attractiveness. DRINKS TYPEWhen asked what pack they drink from most for any given drinks type, a clear majority across all markets favoured the can for energy and sports drinks. This was especially notable in Germany, where 82 per cent of consumers purchase energy drinks in a can. Additional findings on energy and sports drinks packs was that they need to be seen as “cool and trendy”, a consumer requirement that bodes well for the can, which – with its billboard properties and specialist print techniques – is distinguished by eye-catching design and shelf standout.DRINKING OCCASIONSCans are an ideal package for on-the-go occasions and this was reflected in reported consumer behaviour, with “on-the-move” and “at-work” occasions seeing a key increase in instances of “cans being used most often”. In France, 48% of consumers expressed a preference for the can when on the move, compared to 41% in 2011. In Germany preferences for the can were up almost 10 percentage points on 2011, while Spain saw an increase from 46 to 50%. In the “at-work” segment, figures were up eight percentage points in the UK and Germany, seven in France, and four in Spain. “The beverage can’s benefits as the perfect ‘on-the-go’ drinks pack is a central plank of our messaging as an industry,” says Norman Lett. “It is encouraging to see that message is filtering through to the consumer and echoed in their usage habits.”France and Germany also saw➤ EUROPEAN CAN MARKET REPORT 2016 27CONSUMER RESEARCH