Case Study: Big Rock Brewery

It all started with a caper.

A classic twin hijinks, straight out of a sitcom.

Brad Goddard, now Vice President of Business Development and unofficial “policy soothsayer” at Big Rock Brewery, was but a fresh-faced college grad. Newly arrived in the Big City, he was armed only with his hopes, dreams, and a theater degree. 

On his very first morning in Toronto, Brad got a frantic call from his (and his brother’s) talent agent: there was a last-minute audition—for his identical twin, Chris.

There was just one problem: Chris was already hard at work at his day job at a local brewery. 

The solution? For identical Brad to take his place—not at the audition, but at the brewery.

They met in a restroom, swapped outfits, and Chris briefed Brad on the job. Brad, who had never worked in beer before, faked his way through cleaning glass bottles.

At noon, they switched back. It worked like a charm. No one suspected a thing.

That is, of course, until Brad stopped at the bar on the way out to down his hard-earned free pint. It wouldn’t have been a problem, except his brother was simultaneously mopping the floors in another part of a building. 

Busted.

Caught in the act, Brad and Chris sheepishly admitted their scheme. 

Everyone was charmed by the brothers’ antics, and by Brad’s ability to adapt on the fly. The owners were so taken with the switcheroo that they offered Brad a job on the spot.

And that is how Brad Goddard found himself with a career in brewing.

Trading Twin Switches for Earth-Friendly Ones

Decades later, Brad is part of the team at Big Rock Brewery in Alberta, where their four-, six-, and eight-packs are now packaged with Earthrings, a biodegradable alternative to plastic rings.

“We have an ethos of ‘leave no trace,’” says Brad, who still enjoys a spotlight and remains an exceptional storyteller. “The Canadian government was banning those bird-killers”—plastic rings, for the rest of us—“and we took it as an opportunity to reduce our footprint.”

The Problem: Flimsy Alternatives

Big Rock Brewery had looked into alternative packaging long before the government prompted action, but back then, they were ahead of their time. The tech simply wasn’t there. All the paper or cardboard options couldn’t stand up to the rigors of a day in the life of a six-pack, not to mention a cooler full of moisture. And the applicators weren’t sophisticated enough to keep up with the Big Rock operation.

The Push: Legislation

But with a strict deadline looming, big engineering brains were suddenly paying attention to the problem at hand. Packaging experts, entrepreneurs, and general beverage biz folks were focusing on one thing: How do we make cardboard rings that don’t fall apart when exposed to moisture?

“When the timeline started ticking, the tech got serious,” says Brad. “Big names needed an answer, so we started solving the problem.

The Solution: Earthrings

For Big Rock, the answer was Earthrings.

What They Needed: Reliability, Affordability, and Speed

Reliability

“Reliability was our number one requirement. It’s not only a consumer attribute to want to be able to carry the beer confidently, but also our customers, who distribute the beer!”

In other words, sellers wouldn’t be too keen if they had to handle packaging that fell apart, or caused cans to bust open, spill, and generally make a mess.

But—and no offense to engineers here—Big Rock Brewery didn’t trust the abstract specs of any packaging. 

“Engineers can do a lot of talking, but consumers use products in such abusive ways—ways an engineer would never imagine,” says Brad. “You have to do your own tests!”

The Mr. Butterfingers Test

Life happens. Beer gets dropped.

The life of a six-pack involves a lot of travel, so getting fumbled is just part of the territory. When that happens, the last thing you want is for cans to go flying.

“You should be able to hold a six-pack above your belt and drop it without losing cans,” Brad says. “Nine times out of ten, a four-foot drop shouldn’t cause the package to fail.”

Earthrings passed that test.

The Sweat Test

But the Mr. Butterfingers Test was the minimum requirement. To test the true rigors of Earthrings (as well as some of their competitors), the Big Rock team left six packs in their industrial cooler for hours to get the beer extraordinarily cold, then took them outside to sweat in the Alberta sun.

“The sweat test is what pushed us toward Earthrings. They performed the best of all the packaging we tested.”

The Windmill Test

Taking it up a notch, the Big Rock team wasn’t satisfied with watching their ice-cold six packs simply sit in the sun. No, no. For good measure, Brad picked up those sweating six packs in one hand, arm fully extended, and swung them around in circles over his head like a windmill. 

Acing that test was what sealed the deal.

Affordability

Earthrings turned out to be a financial win as well.

Earthrings are immensely cheaper than PakTech—a hard plastic reusable alternative. The applicators, too, are more affordable, roughly a quarter of the cost of similar machines. 

“We noticed an impact on margin, specifically with our tall four-packs,” Brad says. “We used to smack those PakTechs on by hand, with a rubber mallet! Now it’s automated with Earthrings, and it’s cheaper. 

Plus, it’s better for staff. 

“There’s an overall improvement in quality of life for our employees. It didn’t cost any jobs—just eliminated a tedious one.” 

Speed

Big Rock has a sizable output—about 850 cans per minute. 

“We needed something FAST,” says Brad. “Our packaging needed to move at the speed of our business, and Earthrings was creating applicators that could keep up with our needs.”

And here is where our story comes full circle. 

To meet that need, Big Rock purchased two applicators that work together. And what do they call these two robots? 

The Twins, of course. 

No reports yet of them switching places on the line—but given Big Rock’s history, we won’t rule it out.

Find Brad, the (robot) twins, and all of Big Rock Brewery’s offerings the next time you’re in Alberta, Canada.

Ready to put Earthrings through your own rigorous testing? Request samples and a loaner machine to see for yourself.

Already convinced?