Canada: Labatt plans to increase is to investing $50 million in Montreal brewery (LaSalle)

Labatt Canada announced on May 16 it plans to invest more than $50 million to upgrade its brewery in LaSalle, Quebec, (Montreal brewery) in 2005-2006. The brewer said the money will be used to renew two production lines and introduce a new control system.

Labatt said the moves would help it grow its market share in Quebec, which has been rebounding lately. The brewer said its share of the Quebec beer market is at a 20-year high for Labatt.

The expansion will add 400,000 hectolitres a year to the brewer, which currently produces 2.7 million hectolitres a year, the equivalent of 30 million cases of 24. The brewer and its 750 employees bottles several brands including Blue, Labatt 50 and Budweiser.

"We are particularly proud of this performance and of these excellent results in Quebec," said La Brasserie Labatt regional director Michel Doucet. "Our market share is growing across all segments, although it was in the imported beer segment that we saw the sharpest increase: our share jumped by no less than 8 per cent," he said.

In March, Labatt announced it would close its Toronto brewery in November. That announcement followed news last fall that it would close its plant in New Westminster, B.C. "The capital investment in the Lasalle brewery will enable us to boost productivity by 40 per cent and to better respond to high-volume demand in the wake of the Toronto and New Westminster brewery closings," Doucet said.

Founded in 1847, Labatt is owned by InBev SA of Belgium. Labatt and Molson are in a fierce fight for market share in Canada. Both brewers have just over 40 per cent of the Canadian beer market. According to the Canadian Brewers Association, Labatt is currently the market leader with 41.7 % of the Canadian market compared with 41 per cent for its historic rival Molson Coors.

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