> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Most Expensive Ingredient in Your Can Isn't an Ingredient. - URL: https://giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io/can-taxed-like-an-import/ - Published: 2026-08-25T14:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-28T17:48:16.000Z - Description: Fifty-eight members of Congress asked Commerce to look at the Midwest Premium on aluminum. Here is the organic social response: hold the can and say the cents before the shelf does. - Author: giovanni gallucci - Tags: Organic Social, Packaging, Retail Distribution Listen to this episode of The Daily Trends Report, then use the piece below. The most expensive ingredient in a lot of cans isn't an ingredient. It's a regional aluminum price that now has a 50 percent tariff sitting inside it, including on metal that never left Ohio. On August 6, 58 House members, 42 Republicans and 16 Democrats, sent Commerce Secretary [Howard Lutnick](https://www.linkedin.com/in/howardwlutnick?ref=giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io) a letter asking for an investigation into the Midwest Premium. Their point: the premium is supposed to be a domestic delivery differential. It now carries Section 232's aluminum tariff in the all-in price, so a canner using U.S. recycled sheet still pays as if the coil crossed a border. Lawmakers say U.S. beverage cans run more than 70 percent recycled content. The [Beer Institute](https://www.linkedin.com/company/beer-institute?ref=giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io) has been on this. [S&P Global Platts](https://www.spglobal.com/energy/en?ref=giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io), which assesses the most-cited Midwest Premium, says the letter misunderstands how the market trades. Commerce hasn't put a finding on it. The surcharge does not care. A national brand hedges that line across a portfolio and a quarter. An independent buying through a co-packer eats it in one production run. Then somebody in marketing is told to announce a "new look" that is actually a smaller can, or to say nothing and hope the shelf price doesn't start a comment war. This is negative news. Don't hide a packaging cost as a refresh. Don't wait for Lutnick to write back. If the unit cost moved, say the cents on camera before a shopper says them for you. If you want the overnight version of this desk before I write it up, subscribe to The Daily Trends Report on [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily-trends-report/id1896763846?i=1000785549310&ref=giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io) or [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/033jcZwbZNGKpeUTRJvt1J?ref=giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io). This article is the extension. The show is the briefing. The post is what you do with it. ## What you post this week You're not lobbying. You're holding a can and saying the number. Same caption on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. Stories first, then the feed, then pin it. Copy you can paste: This can is mostly recycled American metal. It's still being priced like an import. Midwest Premium is the line item. Fifty-eight members of Congress asked Commerce to look at it on August 6\. Our landed cost on this can went from \[X\] cents in \[month\] to \[Y\] cents now. I'm not dressing that up as a new look. If the shelf price moves, that's why. If it doesn't, we're eating it. I'll tell you which. What you do not post: Forced to raise prices due to unprecedented macroeconomic conditions. Same great taste, new look. when the look is a downsize. We're proud to use recycled aluminum. with no number. Don't blame a political party. Don't fake a cents figure. If you don't have the number from procurement this week, say "I'm getting the cents and I'll post them." A hole is better than a round lie. ## The still Don't use a condensation-porn hero shot. That's a summer ad. This is a cost. Shoot it on a phone. Warehouse, co-packer rail, or a kitchen table. Window light. Frame a blank or your own can next to a notepad with the two cents numbers handwritten, yellow mug in the corner. No fake text on the photo besides the notepad you actually wrote. Don't wash the frame yellow. If you only have one still, that's the still. ## The video (one take, 20 to 30 seconds) You. Founder or the person who pays the co-packer invoice. Handheld. Shot list: 1. Hands, can, to camera (3 seconds) 2. The notepad. Two numbers. Finger (4 seconds) 3. The pallet or the empty can, no acting (4 seconds) 4. On camera, the line below (8 to 12 seconds) 5. End card: the two cents. No URL salad. Say it like this: The metal in this can was already here. The price acts like it wasn't. January \[X\] cents. Now \[Y\]. If I have to move the shelf price, I'll say so here, not on a 'new look' post. If you've got a better idea than eating it, I'm in the comments. Don't say "we remain committed to affordability." Don't say "supply chain challenges." Show the cents. Captions on. Burn in two cards: the old cents, the new cents. Post it native. Same caption as the still. ## The comments (this is the actual job) Pin the cents. For 72 hours, a human replies. Public reply to "so you're raising prices": If we do, I'll post it before the shelf does. The cents are in the pin. Public reply to "just switch to plastic": Different problem. This is the can we run. I'm not going to pretend that's a free swap. Stop at one reply. Don't debate tariffs as a personality. ## LinkedIn, for buyers and your own team Fifty-eight members of Congress asked Commerce to look at the Midwest Premium. Our can cost moved from \[X\] to \[Y\]. We're telling shoppers before the shelf does. If you buy beverages, that's the conversation, not a redesign. If you're reading this on someone else's coil, don't dunk. Post your cents. That's the advantage play, and it's only honest if finance signed the numbers. ## If this is sitting on your calendar Ask procurement for the January can cost and today's. Write the two-number post before a retailer asks why your invoice moved. If you downsize, say downsize. Don't say refresh. If you want the briefing before the write-up, the overnight desk is The Daily Trends Report on [Apple Podcasts](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily-trends-report/id1896763846?i=1000785549310&ref=giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io) and [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/033jcZwbZNGKpeUTRJvt1J?ref=giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io). This piece is what you do after you listen. If putting the can-cost cents on camera without hiding them in a redesign is the part that's hard, that's the work I do. I'm giovanni gallucci. Twenty-plus years in organic social for outdoor lifestyle and clean-label food and beverage brands. Ad Age, Emmy, Shorty, Telly, Webby on the shelf. The useful part is I embed with your team and ship the posts. I don't do paid ads or email. LinkedIn: [linkedin.com/in/galluccinet](https://www.linkedin.com/in/galluccinet?ref=giovanni-gallucci.ghost.io)