Labatt makes multi-million investment into London, Ontario brewery

Canada’s Labatt Breweries has invested nearly CA$27million into its London brewing facility, according to local reports.

The investment, according to CBC, will involve installing four massive tanks to hold more beer and two new packing machines to make cases and boxes more eco-friendly.

The tanks arrived at the brewing facility last week and reportedly blocked traffic on the roads between Lambton County and the Horton Street brewery for two days while en route to their destination.

At a news conference, the brewery revealed that it had invested CA$13.5 million in the new tanks and CA$13.09 million in the packaging lines.

Alex Martel, Labatt’s senior general manager at the brewery admitted: “Directly, there won’t be any new jobs created. We’re allowing ourselves the capacity to brew more beer but it’s just to better serve our consumers and expand our capabilities.”

London’s Labatt brewery currently employs approximately 375 people, with that number fluctuating depending on the season, Martel explained.

Hannah Love, the senior director of communications at Labatt revealed that the new machines will see beer packaged using paperboard — which is one layer of paper compared to recycled cardboard which is three layers of heavy paper. She also outlined that the brewery’s new production lines will also use less glue than older machines.

Love stated: “It allows us to get our products to market for consumers in the most sustainable way possible,” and pointed out that the new tanks will also expand the brewery’s capability to ferment beer by over 59 million litres — the equivalent of 24 Olympic sized swimming pools.

Jeff Ryan, the vice president of legal and corporate affairs for Labatt Breweries of Canada explained: “Our London brewery is the largest in Labatt’s network, brewing over 40% of the beer we brew for Canadians, and this significant investment boosts the facility’s production capacity and sustainability performance.”

Ryan added: “Labatt can meet current Canadian consumer demand while also setting us up for future growth.”