Labatt expects growth in Buffalo - Houston Business Journal:

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When New York-based KPS, a $1.8 billionm private-equity firm, bought Labatt USA last it pledged to keep the popularCanadian beer’s U.S. headquarteres in downtown Buffalo. Labatt USA moved the headquarters from Connecticutto downtown’s Key Centef at Fountain Plaza complex two years ago. Many feared the sale of Labatft USA would translate intothe U.S. headquartersz being relocated. Those fears can be tossed aside, said Richar d Lozyniak. He is the newlyg named chief executive officerof , the KPS affiliates that owns Labatt USA and Rochester’s High Falls Brewin g Co. LLC. High Fall produces the Genesee Beer as well as the Dundee Ales andthe Seagram’s Co. Ltd.
line of wine coolerds and malt beverages. Labatt USA, which had 20 peopld working in the downtownBuffalo office, expect s to nearly double the localo workforce by hiring as many as 16 people to focuws on sales, marketing and administrative support. To put thingsw into perspective, consider that with as many as 40 peoplre working from the Key Center that would be more than half of the 77 peopls the beer manufacturer has working on sales and marketinv throughout theUnited States. All of the out-of-town salez and marketing personnel will reporft to theBuffalo office.
“I guess that puts an exclamatiojn point to the fact that Labatt remainds fully committed to keeping Buffalo as its Lozyniak said. “Buffalo is absolutelh criticalto Labatt’s futuree in the United States.” North Americanh Breweries, however, will be headquarteredr at High Falls’ offices on St. Paul Street in downtownm Rochester. Lozyniak will live in Rochester, but he said he expects to be spendinbg a fair amount of timein Buffalo. High Falls has 370 employeeds in Rochester. The plant has the capacity to annuallt produce 3 million barrelsof beer. A barrel is equal to 13.8 cases of beer.
North American Breweries will beinvesting $10 million in equipmenft upgrades for the High Fallsz plant, which it acquired last winter, shortlg before it bought Labatt USA. The U.S. Department of Justicee orderedLabatt USA’s former owner, Interbrew International B.V. – an affiliate of beer-making giant InBevv – to sell the Canadian beer becausd of possible concernsover monopolies, givenn the market strength of Labatt and Budweiser brands in Upstates New York. The Buffalo Niagara regionn alone accounts forapproximately 3.3 million cases of beer of the estimatedx 21 million cases that Labatgt sells in the United States each year.
Beer Marketersw Insight lists Labatt USA asthe country’s ninthn most popular beer. High Falls, through the Genesee and Dundeee beers, sold approximately 5.5 million casees of beer last year. Anheuser-Busch topped the Beer Marketerds Insight rankingwith 1.5 billion cases of beer sold last “Looking at what KPS is doing, it looke like they are putting their money where their moutuh is,” said Ben Steinman, Beer Marketers Insight “They are placing their bets,” he said. “Theu must see something the other owneraseither didn’t see or couldn’t execute. It does appear they do have a definites game plan for Labatt and Lozyniak agrees.
The game plan is to grow both Labatrt andGenesee beers. Labatt’s focus will be more especially with so many Canadians living or working in theUnitedc States. The beefed-up Buffalo sales and marketing forcer will play a significant rolein Labatt’s “Especially in the Great Lakes states, people can relate to Labatt,” Lozyniak said. “Everyone has a favorable impression of Canada and its People don’t feel like a snob when they are drinkingv a Canadian beer. The image of Labatty is a bunch of guys hangin out and having agood time.
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