Genesee Brewery: $20 million investment modernizes packaging lines
Most of the capitol investment from Genny's parent company focuses on flavored malt beverages
Note: This newsletter is supported by Donnelly’s Public House, a wonderful canal-side establishment in the village of Fairport.
A non-descript warehouse sits at the northeast corner of the 27-acre Genesee Brewery campus in Rochester.
The brewery’s draft center is located near the corner of Bausch Street and St. Paul Street. Inside, visitors might be surprised to encounter two keg-cleaning, keg-filling robots in a spot where workers long ago once manually tapped bungs into kegs.
But the robots are part of the brewery’s recent $20.4 million investment in modernizing packaging equipment and machinery. In total, $2.1 million has been spent inside the brewery’s draft center.
Much of the investment from Genny’s parent company, Costa Rican-based FIFCO, focuses on the wildly successful Seagram’s Escapes flavored malt beverages and other progressive adult beverages products.
The Seagram’s line, according to the brewery, is now the most successful one Genny produces — both in terms of volume and sales. It’s the fastest growing segment of FIFCO USA’s business (which also includes some contract brewing agreements that aren’t publicized and Labatt Blue Light Seltzers). So that’s clearly why most of the capitol investments have been focused on modernizing the brewery’s packaging lines.
Picture: Two robots were installed inside Genny’s draft center. They’re designed to wash and fill kegs efficiently.
The other investments include:
$7.2 million on a new sleek (skinny) canning line to modernize packaging capabilities;
$4.3 million for massive new tanks for FMBs;
$500,000 for a new mix blend cleaning system, which captures cleaning products for re-use, thus decreasing waste and efficiency, brewery officials said;
$5.5 million spent to upgrade other packaging lines;
An additional $800,000 for a variety pack line upgrade.
Here’s a video of one of the keg-filling robots in action:
Pretty cool stuff happening at the state’s oldest brewery. If you recall, these recent investments follow more than $50 million in upgrades to the brewery side of the facility about five years ago, making the state’s oldest brewery into one of its most modern and efficient.
More from Genny
In a new digital campaign called Genesee: Made for the Trade, Genesee is highlighting some of the unsung folks at the brewery, the people behind the beer. While also hoping to recruit for many of the positions available at Genny, the campaign is also designed to give a little love to some other employees outside of brewing operations. (The brewery employs about 600 people.)
Picture: A literal mountain of empty kegs outside the Genny draft center.
Unbeknownst to most, myself included, the brewery offers career opportunities in maintenance, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, security, and a bunch of other areas. The brewery wants to highlight these positions to show that college isn’t the only option for finding a good career.
More information is available at www.fifcousa.com/careers.
A sponsorship update
Expect some really cool Genny updates soon. I’m super proud to announce that the brewery has signed on to sponsor the newsletter. And we’ll be launching a new bi-monthly feature in the next week or so where we highlight some of the unexpected and exciting job opportunities available at Genny.
This is a real “pinch me” moment. It’s validation. It’s so cool to see my hometown brewery supporting my work. And it’s even cooler to see it wants to partner with me. Like I’ve stated repeatedly, I’ve been absolutely blown away in the first two months with this new venture, not only in the level of engagement from readers, but also from breweries and businesses stepping forward, too. Thank you!
Title sponsor: Donnelly’s Public House
This work is made possible through support from Donnelly’s Public House, 1 Water St. in Fairport. So make sure to get out to Fairport and support one of the best establishments in our area.
I remain open to sponsorships, sponsored content, and advertisements, especially if it’ll keep the newsletter free for readers. And if you have information about upcoming releases, events, or happenings, don’t hesitate to reach out. For more information, feel free to drop me a line at clevelandprost@gmail.com.
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Great industry to get into for sure! Great people too