Labatt shifting some production to Genesee Brewery amid $50 million investment

Canadian import supply of Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light will be supplemented by Rochester production to meet demand

Genesee and Labatt USA have been owned by the same parent company since 2009. First under North American Breweries and now under the Costa Rican-based FIFCO.

But until now, the flagship beers from each brewery were made in different countries. Genny’s core beers were made at the brewery’s sprawling St. Paul Street campus near downtown Rochester, while Labatt was produced in Canada and then imported into the U.S.

That is changing today, however. Genny’s parent company FIFCO USA announced some Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light will now be brewed in Rochester to meet rising demand in New York and Pennsylvania. (The brewery didn’t release any sales figures to supplement that assertion.)

Along with that shift in production, FIFCO USA is also investing $50 million in Rochester to upgrade packaging capabilities and add brewing capacity.

The governor’s office said the state grant is tied to the creation of “up to 57 new jobs.” It stated it will support the retention of more than 500 jobs in Rochester, too. The grant was offered “to assist with the modernization efforts.”

The $50 million will be invested over the next three years to “create a world-class packaging facility, as well as add capabilities and capacity for innovation to attract new contract manufacturing clients and supplement the Canadian supply of Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light,” the brewery announced in a release.

That announcement was accompanied by the news that New York state will produce a $7 million capital grant through Empire State Development to aid the project.

“Demand for Labatt Blue and Labatt Blue Light beer has outpaced our supply from Canada. Last year, we began working to develop a plan to continue modernizing our Rochester brewery while building its capacity to accommodate more volume,” FIFCO USA CEO Piotr Jurjewicz said in the release. “We’re transforming our canning and innovation capabilities, adding tanks and upgrading equipment to grow our business and create a more efficient and sustainable operation.”

Quietly, the brewery produces a huge range of alcoholic beverages for a number of clients. That includes Narragansett and a slew of other products that the brewery won’t publicly comment on due to existing non-disclosure agreements. The FIFCO USA portfolio also includes Seagram’s Escapes malt beverages, which the brewery previously stated was the best-selling product from the brewery (in terms of both volume and sales). In total, Genny has seen $215 million invested on the campus to upgrade the brewhouse, packaging lines, and malt beverage production.

2022 photo: Cans of Genny Light whizzing past on one of the brewery’s packaging lines.

Jurjewicz said the state’s commitment “cemented our decision to invest $50 million…” FWIW, Labatt Blue Light Hard Seltzers were already produced in Rochester.

Making sure Blue tastes like Blue

Under its current configuration, FIFCO USA maintained the importing rights to bring Blue and Blue Light into this country. Extensive efforts, therefore, were made to make sure Blue produced in Canada tasted identical to Blue made in Rochester.

Kevin Hryclik, who works as the Labatt USA brewmaster in Canada, consulted with the Rochester-based Genny brewing team to “ensure a perfect match.” Genesee brewmaster Matt James and his team worked on this transition and process.

Hryclik has worked for 40 years at Labatt.

“We have done extensive taste and sensory testing to ensure we deliver the same great taste and quality standards,” said Hryclik. “It’s typical to brew in multiple locations. It comes down to using the same recipe and sourcing the same raw ingredients to maintain the brand’s distinctive flavor.”

For reference, macro-brewed beers like Budweiser are produced at a number of different breweries across the country. So making a transition like this certainly isn’t unheard of in the brewing industry. It’s just wild to see a Canadian icon come across the border to meet demand. It says quite about about the talent, dedication, and knowledge of the Genny brewing team, that it would be entrusted with something as huge as this.

The first shipments of American-produced Blue and Blue Light were slated to leave the Genny brewery today for distribution across New York and Pennsylvania.

After-lunch update here:

Here’s the press release from NYS about it: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-50-million-modernization-project-146-year-old-genesee-brewery#:~:text=The%20146%2Dyear%2Dold%20facility,greater%20efficiency%20at%20the%20site.

I’ve submitted interview requests with Genny and the governor’s office to answer some of these lingering questions.

I also wanna find out more about the process of bringing Blue production to the U.S. Like, what does that look like and how did they do it? That’s endlessly fascinating.