Labatt Breweries welcomed a crowd of onlookers Monday to celebrate an investment of $4.6 million to enhance the brewery in Creston.
The enhancements are part of a larger $38 million investment provincewide.
Creston’s senior general manager of Labatt Breweries of Canada, Peter Delamont, says the big construction zone outside of the brewery is just one of the enhancements.
“You can see the big one here is the warehouse that we’re putting on the front of the building,” said Delamont.
“We have an HVAC upgrade as well, so cooling improvements. We have a major logistics warehouse expansion which is about 35,000 square foot warehouse that we’re adding on-site here.”
Additionally, they have replaced some of the roofs and added an ammonia condenser upgrade to properly maintain their products.
To the back of the building, they have added easy-to-access areas to limit their carbon footprint.
“It just really drives down the carbon footprint and it’s a big advantage for the brewery to be able to go direct here, not have to worry about trucking as much.”
In a news release, he added the enhancements would help improve the operations in both Creston and Vancouver.
“Given the challenges the province has faced over the last 18 months, we are proud to support our brewing operations in Creston and Vancouver with this stimulus as well as the dedicated communities that help make our facilities as successful as they are.”
“Not only will the investment help fund key upgrades at both sites, but it will also be used to enhance our logistics network across Western Canada and provide a smoother route for products to get from our facilities to consumers, positioning the province well for future growth.”
Delamont said the brewery really helps boost the economy in the Creston Valley.
“I think we drive a lot of the jobs in town. We have over 100 employees here on site. We’re really proud of the work that we do.
“We make some of the best beers on earth and [we’re] really proud of the team. So it’s a big driver for the [town]. We get involved in a lot of the activities around water treatment with the city and really partner with Merritt and the [town] of Creston. And I think we’re going to continue to drive investment in people through the town.
He added with a smile that there was no better place in the country to brew beer.
“It’s a nice spot. When you come up to our brew house, you can see the mountains. It’s probably the nicest place to brew beer in Canada. It is the nicest place.
“So it’s just great to have the store reopening come in sort of through the pandemic, we hope, here, and really being able to get people back on site.”
Delamont said the new enhancements will hopefully be finished by the end of September.