The refrigerator aisle at a premium grocery store in Mumbai’s Bandra tells an unusual story. Chilled cans that are usually stacked on the top shelves have made way for beverage bottles. “Cans aren’t coming like before. Whatever comes, goes out quickly,” the store manager says. This scenario is playing out across retail stores in the country as the war in West Asia disrupts global aluminium supplies, a key raw material used to make cans.
Quick-commerce and e-commerce sites have been showing stock-out signs of popular brands such as Diet Coke for days now, prompting a viral social media wave that refuses to quell. Data from retail intelligence platform Bizom showed that sales in value terms of canned beverages, which includes non-alcoholic drinks such as carbonated drinks, is down by 19.4% year-on-year in April due to unavailability of stock.
Bizom, which tracks retail sales in eight million outlets, does not cover alcoholic beverages such as beer. The aluminium supply shock has also resulted in a decline in retail orders, with placement of cans at stores down by 22% versus last year in April so far, Bizom says. “The situation could worsen at the retail end if supply-chain issues persist,” Harshit Bora, analytics head at Bizom, said.
While canned beverages, according to experts, constitute about 2-3% of overall beverage sales for companies, Gen Z consumers are increasingly opting for cans. This is due to its convenience, preference among the cohort for low-sugar options, most of which are available in cans and the aesthetic appeal of cans.
Retail industry sources say that the price of brands such as Diet Coke have shot up by 25% to `50 from `40 for a 300-ml can in the last few days owing to the acute shortage of the brand. Coca-Cola India declined comment when contacted on the Diet Coke shortage in the country.
Experts say that the aluminium squeeze is part of a broader global disruption. The ongoing conflict in West Asia has driven up energy costs, freight charges, and insurance premiums, all of which are critical inputs in metal as well as glass production.
According to industry bodies, glass bottle prices have risen by about 20%, while paper carton costs have nearly doubled. Aluminium cans, meanwhile, are not just more expensive — they’re harder to procure. Since the start of the Iran war, aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) are up over 14%, hurting downstream producers such as can makers.
India relies significantly on imports for beverage cans, with markets like the UAE, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia supplying up to one-third of demand. But these supply lines are now strained. Importing cans has become 25-30% more expensive, experts said, and even then, availability isn’t guaranteed.
Domestic manufacturers such as Ball Beverage Packaging and Canpack are operating near capacity, and adding new production lines could take 10-12 months, far too slow to address an immediate crisis, beverage industry executives said.
The shortage isn’t limited to soft drinks. Beer makers are grappling with similar constraints, with some companies reportedly prioritising limited can inventory for higher-margin products.