Aluminum drinking cup effort gains marketing partner

Broomfield, Colorado-based Ball Corp. says it has named Acosta, a sales and marketing agency focused on the consumer packaged goods industry, to exclusively represent Ball Corp. aluminum cups in the United States in retail and on-premise outlets, including grocery, convenience and drug stores and in food service and some other channels.

Ball launched the U.S. pilot of its Ball Aluminum Cups—which Ball says are “infinitely recyclable”—in September 2019. The company says it has identified “an opportunity to create an innovative alternative to plastic cups,” and says it aspires to emulate or surpass the 69 percent global recycling rate of the aluminum beverage can.

“We are thrilled about this new relationship with Acosta,” says Daniel W. Fisher, senior vice president and chief operating officer of Global Beverage Packaging at Ball Corp. He says Acosta’s “deep industry knowledge and cutting-edge technology will enable us to leverage the initial success of the Ball Aluminum Cup as we launch the brand into retail and on-premise outlets in 2021 and ensure that consumers have a more sustainable cup option when they shop.”

Jacksonville, Florida-based Acosta says that for 90 years it has “led the industry in helping consumer packaged goods companies move products off shelves and into shoppers’ baskets via a range of outsourced sales, marketing and retail merchandising services.”

Comments Darian Pickett, CEO of Acosta, “We are honored that Ball has entrusted us to represent the Ball Aluminum Cup in U.S. retail and on-premise outlets. Our team is proud and eager to provide sales, analytic, retail and supply chain support to a global brand with a long legacy in the packaging industry, as they launch and accelerate the introduction of the aluminum cups into locations over the next year.”