In the fast-changing beverage industry, one of the often-overlooked operational pressures is how your pallets support bottles and cans — not just by carrying the load, but by optimizing space, protecting fragile products, and aligning with ever-shortening supply-chain timelines. When you choose the right pallet design and material for your unique beverage load, you turn a basic logistic tool into a strategic advantage.
Here’s how companies can get smart about beverage-pallet selection, especially for bottles and cans, to enhance stability, protect product integrity, and improve storage efficiency.
Why Beverage Pallet Stability Matters
Whether you’re shipping heavy glass bottles, slim aluminum cans, or multi-SKU mixed packs, pallet stability is critical. Recent trends in beverage packaging show multiple pressures well beyond just branding: the rise of new formats, more SKUs, tighter warehousing footprints, and increasing automation.
When pallets are underspecified for your load type, you risk:
- Load shifts during transport (leading to damage or crushed cans)
- Poor stacking or racking performance (wasting storage space)
- Handling inefficiencies (forklifts battling unstable pallets)
- Incompatibility with automation or mixed pallet loads
By addressing stability up front, you reduce waste, protect product, and unlock smoother upstream and downstream handling.
Key Considerations for Bottles & Can Loads
Load type & format
- Glass bottles: heavier loads, higher sensitivity to impact, often shrink-wrapped in layers.
- Aluminum cans: lighter weight individually but often shipped in large volume, susceptible to compression damage or tilting.
- Mixed SKU / multipack can loads: require consistent pallet footprint and reliable deck support to avoid load creep.
The right pallet must match your unique load shape, weight and handling cycle.
Pallet Specification: Deck & Structure
- A solid deck provides better support for cans and cases — preventing bulging or sagging under heavy loads.
- Reinforced ribs or block style bases contribute to stability during stacking and transport.
- Consider a food-grade or sanitary plastic pallet if your beverage load goes into hygienic or clean environments.
Footprint & stacking strategy
- Standard pallet sizes (e.g., 48 × 40 in) give you compatibility, but you may need custom footprints if your beverage tiering or load mix differs.
- Stackable pallets: designed to safely stack large, loaded pallets — useful for warehouse racking.
- Nestable pallets: save space when empty but may compromise deck support when heavily loaded, evaluate carefully if handling heavy bottle loads.
Material selection & lifecycle
- Plastic pallets often offer better durability, consistent dimensions, and cleaner surfaces compared to wood, which is especially useful when handling beverage loads that may drip or require sanitary conditions.
- Ensure your pallets are designed for the load cycles, handling environment, and stacking strategy of your beverage program.
Automation & handling systems
If your facility uses conveyors, automated palletizers or robotic lifts, your pallet design must be compatible, consistent dimension tolerance, bottom deck design, and entryways for forks matter. According to industry data, “palletizing and load stabilization” is cited as a key investment area for beverage companies.
Building a Beverage-Ready Pallet Strategy
- Audit your beverage loads: How many SKUs? What formats (bottles vs cans)? How many pallet loads per year?
- Match load types to pallet designs: Heavy glass bottles might demand a solid-deck stackable plastic pallet with high capacity; high-volume cans might prioritize deck support + consistent stacking for mixed loads.
- Define the handling environment: Warehouse racking? Cross-dock? Automated lines? Freight return cycle?
- Implement consistency across your program: Standardize on pallet specs for beverage loads so your handling team, material-handlers, and supply-chain systems all align.
- Track performance and cost metrics: Product damage, pallet replacement frequency, handling time, storage space usage — monitor these to validate your pallet strategy.
The Impact: More Than Just “Right Size”
When you optimize your beverage pallet program, you gain:
- Lower product loss (fewer crushed cans, broken bottles)
- Improved warehouse space utilization
- Smoother logistics and fewer handling disruptions
- Stronger alignment with sustainability goals (fewer returns, longer-life pallets)
- Better compatibility with automation and material-handling systems
Next Steps
If you’re navigating beverage-specific pallet challenges, whether it’s heavy glass bottles, high-volume aluminum cans, mixed-SKU loads, or automated handling environment, it pays to talk through your options with a specialist. Call 877-651-7816 to talk to a Plastic Pallet Pro today.
