Labatt investing nearly $27M into London's largest brewery

Labatt Breweries is investing in its London, Ont. facility, installing four massive tanks to hold more beer and two new packing machines to make its cases and boxes more eco-friendly.

The tanks arrived with fanfare last week, blocking traffic over the course of two days as they travelled slowly from Lambton County to the brewery on Horton Street. 

At a news conference attended by local politicians, the company said it's invested $13.5 million in the new tanks and $13.09 million in the packaging lines. 

"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," said Alex Martel, the brewery's senior general manager.

London's Labatt brewery employs approximately 375 people, with that number fluctuating depending on the season, he added.

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. It will also use  less glue than older machines, explained Hannah Love, the senior director of communications at Labatt.

"It allows us to get our products to market for consumers in the most sustainable way possible," Love said.

Love added that the new tanks will also expand the capability to ferment beer by over 59 million litres — the equivalent of 24 Olympic sized swimming pools.

"Our London brewery is the largest in Labatt's network, brewing over 40 per cent of the beer we brew for Canadians, and this significant investment boosts the facility's production capacity and sustainability performance," said Jeff Ryan, the vice president of legal and corporate affairs for Labatt Breweries of Canada.

"Labatt can meet current Canadian consumer demand while also setting us up for future growth," Ryan added.  

Love said while the packing machines aren't at the plant yet, they are hoping to have them installed by early 2024.