Customers of French Market Coffee have always associated the brand with its signature red coffee can, which harkens back to the company’s original Coffee and Chicory label introduced in the late nineteenth century. CROWN Food Packaging North America, a division of Crown Holdings, Inc. (Crown, crowncork.com), recently partnered with the brand, which has been expanding its business nationally, to refresh its packaging, bringing new life to the classic can design.

Founded in New Orleans in 1890, French Market Coffee takes its name from the iconic city landmark. Now a part of Reily Foods, which manufactures and markets a range of private label and specialty brands, French Market prides itself on creating the ‘quintessential New Orleans coffee.’ Famous for servicing the city’s oldest and finest restaurants, the brand offers six different coffee varietals, with both its Dark Roast and Dark Roast with Chicoryblends offered in French Market’s ‘signature’ can.

Reily Foods chose Crown to help develop new cans for both varietals. After Reily worked with their creative agency to come up with a concept and a new design for the can branding, Crown’s expertise and support was integral in making the vision a reality.  This included scaling and balancing elements like a reflective gold crown and a subtle fencing background for the rounded surface of a metal container. The new 12 oz. coffee cans, which feature an easy-open end and a plastic overcap, retain the look and feel of French Market Coffee’s original red tins but with an enhanced design that keeps them in alignment with the brand’s current image.

“Given the complex nature of the new design, we felt it was essential to work with an experienced partner that could help us achieve the best results on metal packaging. Working with Crown on this project has been the right choice for us, thanks to the strength of its service and the quality of the final packaging that we receive,” says Meynard Pacris, operations business manager for Coffee, Mayo and Sauces at Reily Foods. “Our customers have responded very positively to the new packaging – they really feel that it drives home the connection to New Orleans!”

Reily Food’s relationship with Crown dates back over fifteen years. The two companies have partnered on a number of metal packaging ventures, including new lithographic designs for Reily Food’s private label customers. When the company consolidating its coffee operations, it selected Crown as the exclusive supplier for all of its coffee cans, including for the French Market brand. Crown also supports the company by providing mechanical seaming services.

In Crown’s experience, cans have long proven the ideal format to engage coffee consumers. The company works with coffee brands around the world, including the British icon Fortnum & Mason, who recently launched two elegant new tin designs that included aluminum peelable ends to help preserve the aroma of the coffee. “Metal packaging is very effective platform to help a brand convey a high-quality look and feel,” explains Hella Gourven, marketing manager, CROWN Food Packaging North America. “With coffee being an extremely mature market, brands are turning to back to the traditional metal can to present a premium image for their high-end and specialty blends, which are growing in popularity among quality-conscious consumers.”

 Cans are also ideal for meeting demand from brand owners for packaging solutions that are both cost-effective and environmentally responsible. One hundred percent recyclable, steel can be reused repeatedly without loss in performance or quality. In the U.S. in 2012, more than 1.3 million tons of tinplate steel were recycled – the equivalent to 21 billion steel cans. A package made of recycled steel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 75% over a package made with new steel, with each ton of recycled steel saving 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and 120 pounds of limestone.