Canning Your Own Drinks in South Africa? What Does It Cost?
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Canning your own drinks on-site has gone from niche to normal. Across South Africa, cafés, juice bars, kombucha makers and cold brew producers are sealing their own cans because they look professional, travel without spilling, last longer on the shelf, and open the door to retail and event sales.
But before you commit, the real question is simple: what does it actually cost? Here's the honest, rand-by-rand breakdown for 2026.
The three costs of canning your own drinks
There are only three things you pay for: the machine (a once-off), the cans (ongoing), and the lids (ongoing — unless they're included). Get these three clear and you can model your entire setup in five minutes.
1. The can sealing machine (once-off)
A commercial countertop can sealing machine — also called a can seamer — is the heart of the setup. It presses an aluminium foil lid onto a PET can in a few seconds, with no heat, giving you a tamper-evident, leak-proof seal.
In South Africa, expect to pay from around R19,995 for a commercial-grade unit. Much cheaper imports exist, but check what you're actually getting: a local warranty, local spares and support, and whether the machine handles your can sizes without buying extra parts (more on that below).
2. The cans (ongoing)
Clear PET cans are sold in boxes. A box of 200 Not Soda 330ml or 500ml cans is R980 — that works out to R4.90 per can. You buy more boxes as you grow, so this scales directly with how much you produce.
3. The lids
Here's where it pays to read the fine print. Some suppliers sell you cans and then charge separately for the foil lids — R0.50 to R0.65 each is common. That quietly adds 10–13% to your real per-can cost.
With Not Soda, foil lids are included in the box price, so that R4.90 is your all-in per-can packaging cost — nothing extra to add.
Your real per-can cost
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Can sealing machine | R19,995 (once-off) |
| 330ml or 500ml can + lid | R4.90 each (box of 200 @ R980) |
Once the machine is paid off, your packaging cost is a flat R4.90 per sealed can. Add your drink ingredients on top of that to get your true cost of goods.
Two hidden costs to watch
- Base plates. Some machines need a different base plate for each can size — and those plates are often sold separately. If you run two can sizes, that's extra spend and extra faff swapping parts. (The Not Soda machine seals both 330ml and 500ml without swapping plates.)
- Lids charged separately (covered above) — always check whether the can price includes the lid.
And factor in courier to your door. Not Soda ships nationwide from Cape Town.
When does the machine pay for itself?
Here's a simple, illustrative example — your own numbers will vary:
Say you sell a canned cold brew for R40. Your costs are roughly R4.90 packaging + R10 ingredients = R14.90, leaving a gross margin of about R25 per can.
At that margin, the R19,995 canning machine pays for itself in roughly 800 cans. For a busy café selling 40–50 cans a day, that's about three to four weeks. After that, the machine is a profit centre, not a cost.
(Adjust the figures to your own pricing and recipe — the point is the maths is friendlier than most people expect.)
What you need to start
- A commercial can sealing machine
- PET cans in your size — 330ml, 500ml, or both
- Foil lids (included with every box of Not Soda cans)
- Your drink
The bottom line
For well under R25,000 all-in to get going — machine plus a few boxes of cans — on-site canning is one of the most affordable ways to make a small drinks brand look genuinely retail-ready. The ongoing cost is predictable, the per-can economics are strong, and you control your own production.
Ready to work out the right setup for your venue? Browse the can sealing machine and PET cans, or get in touch — we're Cape Town based and ship nationwide.
