Cornish cidermaker Healeys is to can its Rattler Cyder for the first time as it looks to offset additional costs from the government’s extended producer responsibility scheme.
The supplier has purchased new 12-head rotary canning filler, capable of running at 6,000 cans per hour and packaging into 500ml, 440ml, 330ml standard, and sleek cans. It will be installed at Healeys’ Cornish Cyder Farm near Truro this spring.
Healeys was staring down the barrel of a £700,000 EPR tax bill in October 2025, meaning a £1m investment in a new canning line would quickly pay for itself, managing director Joe Healey told The Grocer.
“We’re investing a significant amount of money to achieve the goals of the EPR programme, which is to improve the sustainability of supply of products on the market,” Healey said. “It was kind of a no-brainer for us because otherwise in two, three years time we’d have a mothballed bottling line and be outsourcing a load of canning, which would be ridiculous.”
Nevertheless, he expressed frustration that the supplier’s first EPR bill would be calculated using its 2024 volumes and packaging mix. “We’re still going to have to pay based on last year’s product, even though we are switching out to cans from April,” he said.
Healey’s would continue to produce its cider in bottles for the time being, Healey said. However, it was in conversations with retailers and expected many to switch out bottled products for cans after EPR came into force this autumn, he added.
“The EPR is significantly less on cans and we just think naturally the retailers are going to chose the can route,” he said.
Healeys comments come amid growing fear over the financial impact of EPR on businesses and consumers. The tax – due to come into effect from this October – is set to add £1.5bn a year to industry costs, which will have to be absorbed by suppliers or passed on via higher prices.
Figures from Valpak last month estimated EPR packaging fees would amount to as much as 12p per unit, with spirits, wine, water and soft drinks products among those hit hardest.
Wider sustainability push
The canning line installation forms part of a wider £5m sustainability commitment first announced by Healeys in September 2023.
The supplier has eliminated single-use plastics on site by transitioning to 100% recyclable packaging, and now generates 30% of its power from on-site solar and wind energy.
It has also added new apple bays, a new “innovative” water transportation system to reduce consumption, as well as an additional press.
Alongside its flagship Rattler Cyder – stocked in Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco – Healeys also makes a single malt Cornish whiskey and Tresor, a naturally sparkling wine made exclusively from Cornish grapes.
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