As the saying goes, “variety is the spice of life,” and for beverage-makers, package variety also can be a tactic to spice up sales. In the aluminum category, packaging manufacturers have gone beyond the traditional 12-ounce can and now offer a range of shapes, sizes and closures to help beverages stand out on store shelves.

Being a trendsetter isn’t always ideal. You’re often the “guinea pig,” which could be a good thing or a bad thing. For Admiral Beverage Corporation, it’s a good thing. The company was one of the first bottlers in the country to install injection molding machines, it says. After introducing blow molding lines to both of its production facilities a few years ago, injection molding has enabled the business to become even more vertically integrated.