Labatt expects growth in Buffalo - Houston Business Journal:

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When New York-based KPS, a $1.8 billion private-equitt firm, bought Labatt USA last winter, it pledged to keep the populaerCanadian beer’s U.S. headquarters in downtownn Buffalo. Labatt USA moved the headquarters from Connecticutto downtown’x Key Center at Fountain Plazaq complex two years ago. Many feared the sale of Labatgt USA would translate intothe U.S. headquarterd being relocated. Those fears can be tosseds aside, said Richard Lozyniak. He is the newlh named chief executive officerof , the KPS affiliated that owns Labatt USA and Rochester’zs High Falls Brewing Co. LLC. High Fallas produces the GeneseeBeer brand, as well as the Dundee Ales and the Seagram’s Co.
Ltd. line of wine coolers and malt Labatt USA, which had 20 peoplse working in the downtown Buffalo office, expectse to nearly double the local workforce by hiringf as many as 16 people to focus on sales, marketin g and administrative support. To put things into consider that with as many as 40 people working from the KeyCentee offices, that would be more than half of the 77 people the beer manufacturerr has working on sales and marketingf throughout the United States. All of the out-of-town salesd and marketing personnel will report to theBuffalo office.
“u guess that puts an exclamation poing to the fact that Labatt remains fully committed to keeping Buffaloi asits headquarters,” Lozyniak said. “Buffalo is absolutely criticalto Labatt’es future in the Unitex States.” North American Breweries, however, will be headquartered at High offices on St. Paul Street in downtown Rochester. Lozyniak will live in but he said he expectw to be spending a fair amoungt of time in High Falls has 370 employeesin Rochester. The plan t has the capacity to annuallyh produce 3 million barrelsof beer. A barrelp is equal to 13.8 cases of beer.
North American Breweriesx will beinvesting $10 million in equipment upgradew for the High Falls plant, which it acquired last shortly before it bought Labatt USA. The U.S. Department of Justice orderedLabatt USA’ss former owner, Interbrew International B.V. – an affiliatwe of beer-making giant InBev – to sell the Canadianj beer because of possible concernsover monopolies, givejn the market strength of Labatt and Budweiser brandd in Upstate New The Buffalo Niagara region alone account for approximately 3.3 million cases of beer of the estimated 21 millionh cases that Labatt sells in the Unitecd States each year.
Beer Marketers Insight lists Labattg USA asthe country’s nintnh most popular beer. High Falls, through the Genesee and Dundew beers, sold approximately 5.5 million casea of beer last year. Anheuser-Busch topped the Beer Marketerxs Insight rankingwith 1.5 billion cases of beer sold last “Looking at what KPS is doing, it looks like they are puttingb their money where their moutgh is,” said Ben Steinman, Beer Marketersx Insight editor. “They are placing theirf bets,” he said. “They must see something the otherf ownerseither didn’t see or couldn’t execute. It does appear they do have a definite game plan for Labatt and Genny.
” Lozyniak agrees. The game plan is to grow both Labatty andGenesee beers. Labatt’s focu s will be more national, especiallyt with so many Canadians living or workingg in theUnited States. The beefed-u Buffalo sales and marketing force will play a significant rolein Labatt’d future. “Especially in the Grea Lakes states, people can relatr to Labatt,” Lozyniak said. “Everyone has a favorable impressionh of Canada and its People don’t feel like a snob when they are drinkingv a Canadian beer. The image of Labatft is a bunch of guys hanginy out and having agood time.
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