Food - Drink
Here’s Why Some Hawaiian Soda Cans Look Different
By LISA CURRAN MATTE
If you order a canned soft drink in Hawaii, you may notice the can looks just a little bit different from the cans back on the mainland.
Hawaiian soda cans have three ridges around the neck and measure 2.375 inches in diameter, bigger than the now-standard 2.125-inch cans.
Until the late 1980s, the large-top can, known as 206es, was the standard in the whole of the U.S., but the change to the smaller lids was made as a cost-cutting measure.
To produce the new can size, plants had to invest a sizable sum to upgrade their production facilities, and higher-ups in Hawaii at the time declined to do this.
Since soda is heavy and expensive to ship, soda companies produce and distribute locally, so soda that's canned in Hawaii stays in Hawaii and features these larger lids.