For Naperville’s Go Brewing, aluminum cans play a substantial role in manufacturing. Ask president and founder Joe Chura, and he’d say about 99.99% of the nonalcoholic craft brewery’s offerings are doled out in aluminum cans.
So with President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on all imported aluminum set to go into effect on March 12, the potential local impact “is really on our mind,” Chura says.
“Packaging in general accounts for about half of our costs,” he said. “And most of our business is from packaged goods.”
Since launching in 2023, Go Brewing has been able to capitalize on swift growth to reduce costs, Chura said. But should tariffs affect production costs, it could negate those cost savings, he said.
The 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, which Trump announced Feb. 10, are projected to significantly affect a number of industries, including automobile manufacturing, construction, electronics and packaging. The U.S. imports roughly half the aluminum used in manufacturing, with Canada by far the largest supplier, according to data published this month by the Council on Foreign Relations.
The three largest U.S. can manufacturers are Ball Corp., Crown and Ardagh, according to data from IBISWorld. Some craft brewers buy their cans through suppliers, who deal in large volumes and act as middlemen with the manufacturers.
Go Brewing has several suppliers but primarily uses a company called Hart Print, Chura said. Hart Print has locations in Carol Stream, Maryland and Quebec, Canada, according to its website. Hart Print was reached by email Wednesday but declined to comment.
The effect tariffs could have on Hart Print — a subsidiary of Ardagh Metal Packaging — and in turn Go Brewing was not immediately clear but Chura has concerns.
Last year, Go Brewing produced about 3.1 million cans of nonalcoholic beer at a cost of over $600,000, he estimated. The company sells its products directly through its website as well as on Amazon. It also has distribution in more than 20 states across the country.
The tricky part about aluminum tariffs potentially trickling down onto Go Brewing is that the company is restricted in how it can make up for cost hikes, at least in the short-term. Go Brewing could raise prices for the products it sells directly through its website, but doing the same for products sold in retail isn’t really feasible mid-year, Chura said.
“At this point, it’s kind of fixed,” he said.
Solemn Oath Brewery in Naperville would be in a similar position of waiting to pass on any cost increases to consumers were it to feel the weight of tariffs, company President John Barley said.
“Just with the way our industry operates, typically we make adjustments at certain periods of the year,” he said. “We don’t ever want to shock customers.”
About 50% of Solemn Oath’s business is in packaged products, Barley said. Last year, the brewery produced about 750,000 canned drinks at a cost of more than $100,000, he said.
The company obtains its aluminum cans from Chicago-based Berlin Packaging. Berlin was reached by email Wednesday but declined comment.
For now, Barley said Solemn Oath is “hoping for a speeding resolution” to the matter, he said.
“I mean, our margins in our business are tight to begin with. … Unexpected costs are going to cause issues,” he said. “We’re going to see more issues and more brewery closings as a result of things like this. That’s what I see happening if this is prolonged.”
Asked if there are any issues he’s especially worried about arising at Solemn Oath, Barley said, “Not particularly, we’re well-established,” but that he’s worried about the craft beer industry in general.
“We have enough headwinds,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a thirst to have more. …We don’t need more challenges.”
In the event that tariffs incur additional costs onto Go Brewing, Chura said the company would have to “tread carefully” and maybe even make some concessions.
For instance, Chura pointed to dollars spent on promotion. To offset higher production costs, Go Brewing could cut how much it devotes to marketing, he said.
Asked about the potential long-term impact of tariffs on business, Chura said he views moments like this as a chance to evolve and adapt.
“Will there be a short-term impact if this goes through? Yes, it will compress our margins,” he said. “But in the long-term, I’m thinking about how we use this as an opportunity to innovate.”
Maybe there’s room for Go Brewing to do more in draft or explore alternative forms of packaging, Chura said.
“Challenges like this push innovation,” he said. “We control what we can and create what we must.”
The Chicago Tribune’s Robert Channick contributed.
