When German soup manufacturer Stockmeyer AG introduced a new premium soup line in the U.K., it used fluted cans from Crown Food Europe (www.crowncork.com), to rise above the cacophony of canned soup products on grocery shelves. Manufactured at Crown Food Europe's plant in Seesen, Germany, the 400-g steel can uses a lithographic decoration that focuses on the vertical fluting of its EOLE III™ easy-open end.

“We wanted a package that would evoke the premium quality of these soups to help us capture market share,” says Klaus Weber, marketing manager of Buss Fertiggerichte GmbH. & Co. KG (www.buss.de), filler of the Stockmeyer soups for the U.K. market.

Says Weber, “Crown's unique flute-shaped can panels offer a refreshing take on the traditional straight-walled soup can. Beautifully decorated, the shaped cans differentiate the soups at the point of sale and reinforce the high value of the Stockmeyer brand.” The can size is designed to be fully compatible with the company's pre-existing filling, handling and distribution operations, including full interchangeability with virtually all current continuous or static retort systems.