Why Refill Operations Buy 55 mm Caps by the Case
Short answer. A case of 660 non spill caps is $85 at our Mississauga plant, which works out to about 13 cents a cap. A refill operation filling 40 bottles a day goes through a case in roughly a fortnight, which is why nobody serious buys them in packs of fifty.
The arithmetic nobody does until they run out
Caps are the cheapest part of a filled bottle and the one most likely to stop a line. Here is the burn rate at a few volumes.
| Bottles filled per day | Caps per week | A case of 660 lasts |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 100 | about 6 weeks |
| 40 | 200 | about 3 weeks |
| 100 | 500 | about 9 days |
| 250 | 1,250 | under 3 days |
At 100 bottles a day you are opening a new case every week and a half. Buying those in packs of 50 means thirteen separate purchases for the same caps, at a worse unit price, with thirteen chances to forget.
What 13 cents a cap actually buys
- 660 caps a case, one part non spill, 55 mm
- Fits any standard 55 mm neck, which is virtually every 3 gallon and 5 gallon bottle sold in Canada
- Peel back lift to remove tab, so the bottle stays sealed from your filling line to the customer’s cooler
- Net 6.4 kg, gross 7 kg a case, so a case is easy to carry and cheap to ship
- Green or blue. Clear is out of stock at the moment
Why we hold them and you do not have to
We do not mould these. They are imported, and we say so plainly because the alternative is pretending otherwise and being caught.
What we do is buy them by the container, clear the customs, carry the currency risk and hold the stock in Mississauga. That is the service. A refill station cannot realistically import caps, because the minimum order is a shipping container and the lead time is about eight weeks. Because we have already done that, you buy a case, in Canadian dollars, off a shelf forty minutes away.
Caps travel. Bottles do not.
This is the part worth understanding if you are outside the GTA.
Freight is priced on density, which is weight divided by the space something takes up. A case of caps is dense, so freight is a small fraction of what is inside it. We ship cases anywhere in Canada without the shipping erasing the saving.
Empty bottles are the exact opposite, mostly air, which puts a skid of them in an expensive freight class and makes them a local product. Same company, two completely different answers about distance.
Colour coding is free and saves arguments
If you run more than one product, different cap colours cost you nothing and make a mis fill obvious across a room. Spring in green, distilled in blue, or whatever suits your labels. It is the cheapest quality control there is.
Frequently asked questions
How many caps are in a case?
660. At $85 a case that is about 13 cents a cap.
What size are water bottle caps?
The standard is 55 mm, which fits virtually every 3 gallon and 5 gallon water bottle sold in Canada. Smaller 38 mm caps are used on 4 L jugs.
Do you ship caps outside the GTA?
Yes, anywhere in Canada. Caps are dense enough that freight stays a small part of the delivered cost, unlike empty bottles.
What colours do you stock?
Green and blue. Clear is out of stock at the moment. All are the same one part non spill cap.
How does payment work?
Payment is required before we ship, on every order and every account. We do not ship on credit.
Buy a case
Non spill caps, case of 660, $85. Free pickup at 950 Verbena Road in Mississauga, delivery across the GTA, or shipped anywhere in Canada. Call 905 670 7400.
Puretap Water Distillers Ltd. has been blow moulding bottles and distilling water in Mississauga since 1986.
Prices, colour availability, specification and Canada wide freight are all on the 55 mm non-spill caps wholesale page.
