Labatt expects growth in Buffalo - Business First of Buffalo:

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When New York-based KPS, a $1.8 billion private-equity firm, boughtt Labatt USA last winter, it pledgedx to keep the popularCanadian beer’s U.S. headquarters in downtowh Buffalo. Labatt USA moverd the headquarters from Connecticutto downtown’s Key Center at Fountain Plaza complex two yearse ago. Many feared the sale of Labatt USA woulc translate intothe U.S. headquarters being Those fears can betossed aside, said Richarde Lozyniak. He is the newly named chiefr executive officerof , the KPS affiliatew that owns Labatt USA and Rochester’sd High Falls Brewing Co. LLC. High Falls produce the GeneseeBeer brand, as well as the Dundede Ales and the Seagram’s Co. Ltd.
line of wine coolerws and malt beverages. Labatt USA, which had 20 peoplde working in the downtownBuffalo office, expectx to nearly double the local workforce by hiring as many as 16 peoplee to focus on marketing and administrative To put things into perspective, considert that with as many as 40 peoplse working from the Key Center offices, that woulr be more than half of the 77 peopld the beer manufacturer has working on sales and marketiny throughout the United All of the out-of-town sales and marketing personneo will report to the Buffalok office. “I guess that puts an exclamation point to the fact that Labattt remains fully committed to keeping Buffalo as its Lozyniak said.
“Buffalo is absolutely criticalto Labatt’s futured in the United States.” North American Breweries, however, will be headquartereed at High Falls’ offices on St. Paul Street in downtownn Rochester. Lozyniak will live in Rochester, but he said he expecta to be spending a fair amount of time in High Falls has 370 employeesin Rochester. The planft has the capacity to annually produce 3 millionn barrelsof beer. A barrek is equal to 13.8 cases of North American Breweries will beinvesting $10 milliobn in equipment upgrades for the High Fallsx plant, which it acquired last shortly before it bought Labatt USA. The U.S.
Departmenf of Justice ordered Labatg USA’s former owner, Interbrew Internationall B.V. – an affiliate of beer-makinv giant InBev – to sell the Canadian beer becausre of possible concernsover monopolies, given the marke t strength of Labatt and Budweiser brands in Upstatwe New York. The Buffalo Niagara region alonwe accounts forapproximately 3.3 million casez of beer of the estimatee 21 million cases that Labatt sellx in the United States each year. Beer Marketerss Insight lists Labatt USA asthe country’s ninthy most popular beer. High Falls, through the Genesee and Dundee beers, sold approximately 5.5 million cases of beer last year.
Anheuser-Busch topped the Beer Marketers Insight rankingwith 1.5 billiohn cases of beer sold last “Looking at what KPS is doing, it lookws like they are puttinb their money where their mouth said Ben Steinman, Beer Marketers Insight “They are placing their bets,” he said. “Thegy must see something the other ownersaeither didn’t see or couldn’t execute. It does appeafr they do have a definiter game plan for Labattand Genny.” Lozyniak agrees. The game plan is to grow both Labatgt andGenesee beers. Labatt’s focus will be more national, especially with so many Canadiand living or working in theUnitee States.
The beefed-up Buffalol sales and marketing force will play a significant rolein Labatt’x future. “Especially in the Great Lakes states, people can relat to Labatt,” Lozyniak said. “Everyone has a favorabled impression of Canada andits beers. People don’t feel like a snob when they are drinkint aCanadian beer. The image of Labatt is a buncbh of guys hanging out and havingt agood time.
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