What canning actually costs, line by line.
A café can start selling its own canned drinks for just under $1,900: a $1,799 countertop can sealer with free shipping plus a $99 case of 100 blank 16oz cans. Ongoing cost is the can (74 to 99 cents) plus your drink's ingredients, and at typical café pricing the machine pays for itself in roughly two to four months of modest sales.
What do you need to buy to start?
The whole shopping list is two lines:
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Canned sealer machine | $1,799 | Free shipping, standard 110V outlet, no install |
| First case of 100 blank cans | $99 | 16oz clear PET, lids included; shipping billed by the case |
| All-in to first sealed can | about $1,900 | No contracts, no minimums beyond one case |
What does each can cost after that?
The can itself runs 99 cents one-off, dropping to 84 cents at 1,000 cans and as low as 74 cents on the Canned Club subscription. Add your recipe's ingredients: house cold brew usually lands between 60 cents and $1.20 for 16oz, matcha and specialty lattes a bit more.
Call it $1.75 to $2.50 of product cost in a can you sell for $6 to $8. That is a 65 to 75 percent gross margin, made in a batch instead of one drink at a time during rush.
How fast does the machine pay for itself?
Worked example, on the conservative side: sell 6 cans a day at $6.50 with $2.10 total product cost. That is $4.40 gross profit per can, about $26 a day, roughly $800 a month. Against a $1,799 machine, payback lands just past two months, and every case after that is margin.
Double it to 12 cans a day (one small fridge restock) and payback is about five weeks. Run your own numbers in the calculator below.
What costs are NOT in the picture?
The honest fine print, so the math stays trustworthy:
- Shipping on can cases: billed separately at live UPS rates, roughly a flat fee per 100-can case.
- Fridge space: the grab-and-go cooler you likely already run.
- Labels: stickers from your label printer work day one; custom printed cans start at 95 cents to $1.25 per can at 1,000-can minimums when a recipe earns it.
- A few minutes of labor per batch: filling and sealing 20 cans takes about 15 minutes.
How does this compare to a co-packer?
A co-packer run starts around $5,000 to $15,000 per flavor, requires 5,000 to 10,000 cans minimum, reformulates your recipe for their line, and books out weeks. It is the right tool at grocery-chain volume.
The countertop route flips every one of those numbers: under $1,900 to start, batches of one case, your exact recipe, sealed the same morning you brew it.
See your payback in seconds.
Drag in your own numbers: drinks a day, what you charge, your costs. We'll show the margin per can, what it adds each month, and how fast the seamer pays for itself. No email needed to try.
Get the full math as a one-pager, handy for showing a partner or co-owner.
1-year warranty on the seamer · free shipping on the seamer · cancel cans anytime
Q.Is there a subscription requirement?
No. The machine is a one-time purchase and blank cans are available one case at a time. The Canned Club subscription exists only to lower your per-can price (74 to 84 cents) once you know your volume; it has a 200-can monthly minimum and a 3-month minimum term, then cancel anytime.
Q.What about financing?
Checkout supports Affirm and Klarna, which puts the machine around $75 a month. At the example margins above, two days of can sales a week covers the payment.
Q.Does the price include everything the machine needs?
Yes. It plugs into a normal outlet, needs no compressed air or plumbing, and ships free. The only consumable is the can itself.
Ready to pour your first can?
The $1,799 countertop sealer ships free. Add a case of blank cans and start the day it lands.