Tinplate vs aluminium cans: which one for a small beverage brand?

XYH CAN · November 2026 · 6 min read

We make steel cans, so you might expect this article to end with "choose steel". It doesn't. Aluminium is the right can for most high-volume beverage lines, and we will tell you so when you ask. But there is a set of situations where printed tinplate is the better tool, and small brands are usually in it.

Where aluminium wins

Two-piece aluminium cans are lighter, run on every filling line in the world, and are what consumers expect for a mainstream 355ml soda, beer or hard seltzer. If you are filling hundreds of thousands of cans a year on a co-packer's line, aluminium is the answer. The catch is minimums: printed aluminium cans from the major plants start in the hundreds of thousands per design, which pushes small brands to blank cans plus shrink sleeves or labels.

Where tinplate wins

• Short printed runs. We print tinplate from 20,000 pieces per design on the 100ml can, and unprinted cans have no minimum at all.
• Print quality. Offset printing on flat sheet, before forming, gives sharper type and better Pantone accuracy than a sleeve.
• Shelf feel. Steel is heavier in the hand and takes matte, embossed and metallic finishes. For a sampler, a gift pack or a limited edition, that is the point.
• Odd sizes. 100ml, 1L beer cans, spirits tins with a rubber plug — formats aluminium plants don't bother with.

Cost

Per can, printed tinplate in short runs is usually cheaper than printed aluminium in short runs, because the aluminium minimum forces you to buy far more than you need. At volume the order flips. Ask for both numbers before deciding.

Recycling

Both are infinitely recyclable. Steel is magnetically separated at recovery facilities, which keeps capture rates high in mixed streams; aluminium has the better-known deposit-return story. Neither is a reason to choose one over the other for a small brand.

Our recommendation

Under roughly 50,000 cans a year, or for any limited edition, sampling or gift format: tinplate, starting unprinted if you need fewer than 20,000. Above that, on a standard 355ml format: aluminium. See the 100ml can for what the small-run route looks like.