Guests: Dan and Jeff, Canovation
Host: Tim Ridderbos, VP at Shapiro

What if one small design change could solve multiple challenges in beverage packaging? Consumer experience, sustainability, regulation, and cost at the same time?

In this episode of 5 for Five, host Tim Ridderbos sits down with Dan and Jeff from Canovation, an IP-driven engineering company that has developed a patented, all-metal, resealable aluminum can designed to transform rigid packaging.

Rather than selling beverages, Canovation focuses on the technology behind the package itself by rethinking what an aluminum can can be and how it fits into a circular economy.

“We’re a self-based Florida IP engineering company for packaging, and we’ve come up with an innovative design that’s an all metal, resealable design for cans that we patented worldwide.”

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

Key Timestamps

00:00 – What is Canovation?
00:58 – Why innovation matters in beverage packaging
03:43 – How Canovation compares to aluminum bottles
05:30 – Consumer experience and resealability
06:01 – Aluminum alloys and recycling challenges
07:32 – When Canovation cans will reach the market

Why Packaging Innovation Matters Now

Dan and Jeff explain that innovation in beverage packaging is rarely driven by a single factor. Instead, it’s shaped by five competing forces.

“The consumer experience needs to be there… these brands, they’re looking for a marketing differentiator… you also have legislation… we’re looking for economics… and then finally… sustainability ecology.”

Historically, packaging innovations may have solved one or two of these challenges…but rarely all five at once.

“That’s really something that hasn’t been done in the metal packaging space for decades, if ever.”

A Can, a Bottle, & a Cup

At first glance, Canovation’s product looks familiar. But functionally, it combines multiple formats into one.

“We call the technology a can, a bottle, and a cup.”

By adapting standard aluminum cans with a seamed ring and a screw-on closure, brands can maintain existing manufacturing processes while gaining resealability and a new consumer experience.

“We’re still using your standard can the way that you know it today… brands continue to buy the same cans that they’re accustomed to.”

When the closure is removed, the experience changes entirely.

“That hole you’re left with is larger than any other beverage container that’s commercially available today.”

Why This Is Different From Aluminum Bottles

While resealable aluminum bottles already exist, they come with tradeoffs in cost and material usage.

“It’s a lot less aluminum than what an aluminum bottle is required to have… and because of that additional aluminum cost it’s also more expensive.”

Canovation’s approach leverages decades of optimization in traditional can manufacturing.

“We’re taking advantage of the efficiencies, the built-in efficiencies, and low cost of can manufacturing.”

The result is what Dan and Jeff describe as:

“The world’s lightest and least expensive all metal resealable aluminum bottle.”

Unlocking a 100% Recycled Aluminum Can

One of the most impactful breakthroughs lies in material composition.

“One of the unique things that people don’t realize is that there’s two different alloys that go into your standard beverage can today.”

That difference limits recycled content in traditional cans. Canovation’s design eliminates the need for the pop-top and score line.

“We effectively are using the same material that the can body itself is… the 3000 series alloy.”

This shift enables a major circularity milestone.

“Now that our components can be made from 100% recycled content and hence providing 100% recycled content can.”

The Sustainability Opportunity

For Dan and Jeff, sustainability isn’t an afterthought. It's a core design driver.

“We were really happy with the innovations that we put forth as engineers… but we were so gung-ho with creating growth that we turn the blind eye to the ecology.”

With single-use plastics under increasing scrutiny, Canovation sees aluminum as a material uniquely suited for circular systems.

“At least with plastics, it’s becoming abundantly clear that something must be done, at least to address the use of single use plastics.”

When Will Canovation Cans Reach the Market?

Canovation doesn’t sell beverages. They enable brands to innovate.

“We are the box your product comes in.”

With growing traction across the value chain, commercialization is approaching.

“We’re looking to have something that’s commercially viable within the next 12 to 18 months.”

The timing and rollout, however, will be driven by brand partners.

“The scheduling, the location, the way this is introduced to the public will be driven by the brands.”

Why It Matters

Packaging decisions impact far more than shelf appeal. They influence material recovery, consumer behavior, regulatory compliance, and long-term sustainability.

Canovation demonstrates that it’s possible to rethink a familiar product, like the aluminum can, in a way that delivers value across the full value chain, while enabling true circularity.

As Tim notes, it’s innovation that pushes the industry forward.

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