Having been dedicated to quality spring waters for the last 30 years, UK beverage entrepreneurs Radnor Hills are extending their portfolio of products to embrace the can. The company’s new pack for its still and sparkling water range successfully achieves the challenge of meeting all the exacting spring water quality regulations.

Spring water is a delicate, highly regulated and safety-controlled product, which makes quality absolutely non-negotiable for Radnor Hills. Recognising the benefits of the aluminium can – with its long shelf life, 100% recyclability, transport efficiency and leakproof/lightproof qualities – the company worked with Ardagh to bring cans into its packaging portfolio in a way that presents fantastic shelf appeal as well as guaranteeing consistent product quality and safety.

The process saw the company tapping into Ardagh’s expertise on design, filling and quality control across a range of customer support teams. After intensive help with the complex technical aspects of producing canned water, Radnor Hills is now able to fill at source, which is the ideal solution for beverage companies looking for complete control over product quality from start to finish, preserving the water in its perfect, natural state.

As the starting point for the new range, Radnor Hills were invited to Ardagh’s customer event “can school”. The annual event offers Ardagh customers two-and-a-half days of learning about can manufacturing and the market for canned products, as well as introducing Ardagh’s Customer Technical Service and its renowned Graphics Teams. There followed a close collaboration between Radnor Hills and Ardagh across these areas of customer support.

Ardagh’s Customer Technical Service specialists helped the company develop their at-source filling line, while the can was tested for compatibility with the sensitive product at Ardagh’s laboratory in Bonn, where its complete safety and suitability was determined. On the aesthetic side of the process, the Graphics Team helped Radnor Hills develop its graphics ideas over a process of design, proof-printing in a local graphics studio, and prototype can testing.

Radnor Hills’ portfolio of canned drinks also includes their fully school compliant range Radnor Fruits, which are a blend of 45% fruit juice and spring water. The company has opted to make the most of Ardagh’s Coloured Tab range by selecting different Coloured Tabs for each product for easy identification from above. The coordinated designs feature a navy-blue tab for the still spring water, silver for the sparkling spring water, and yellow, pink, red and green for the school compliant options.

William Watkins, Managing Director and founder of Radnor Hills says, ‘Our passion is for making the simplest of things taste great, and thanks to the detailed development we’ve done with Ardagh, we know we can rely on our new can range to protect and preserve the fantastic taste and quality of our still and sparkling spring waters.’

Two all-natural and completely unsweetened Infused Waters are the next product in Radnor Hills’ pipeline. In the meantime, the still and sparkling canned waters are coming to the UK in Q4 and will be widely available in supermarkets, while the Radnor Fruits range will be appearing in Q4 with outlets including UK schools.