History professor Matthew Bellamy has weighed in on what he sees as the driving force between the success of Labatt Breweries. A short excerpt is provided below with the full article, “Labatt Breweries of Canada Reflects on 175 Years of Brewing and Sets Sights on Future Growth,” is available on the Canadian Insider website.
With a corporate history pre-dating Confederation, Labatt has grown from a humble brewery to a total beverage company that’s using leading tech to continue its legacy of industry disruption
TORONTO, Oct. 11, 2022 /CNW/ – This October, Labatt Breweries of Canada is proud to celebrate its 175th anniversary of brewing excellence as a leader in the Canadian beer and total beverage space. Established in 1847 by John Kinder Labatt in London, Ontario, Labatt has endured two world wars, prohibition, the global pandemic and an ever-evolving consumer landscape. Through it all, Labatt has grown to include six key breweries from coast-to-coast, four craft breweries, 70 brands and more than 3,600 skilled craftspeople and professionals – further solidifying its footprint on Canadian history and culture.
To celebrate this milestone, Labatt is partnering with Toronto Harbourfront Centre to deliver a special art exhibition – A Brewing Affair – open from October 7-23, showcasing its illustrious history, from inception to present day, including some of the innovative solutions Labatt has created in its lifetime that will continue the company’s legacy well into the future.
“As we celebrate our 175th anniversary and look to the future, we’ve set our sights on redefining what it means to be a total beverage company,” says Mika Michaelis, President of Labatt Breweries of Canada. “To do this, we’re leaning into our global purpose: We Dream Big to Create a Future with More Cheers. It’s what inspires us to continue to deliver innovative, NextGen, customer-centric ideas and solutions.”
Today, Labatt is evolving into a tech-forward, total beverage company by putting digital and customer-centricity at the heart of its growth strategy. This includes the successful pilot of a proprietary B2B e-commerce platform, BEES, as well as establishing the Labatt Impact Lab with the University of Toronto’s Engineering department to create a hub for analytics and artificial intelligence.
“I just don’t think that anybody could survive in the Canadian brewing industry without being innovative,” says Matthew Bellamy, professor of history at Carleton University and author of Brewed in the North: A History of Labatt’s. “John Kinder Labatt was influenced and motivated by the technological innovations of the industrial revolution, and that impulse to innovate and disrupt is part of Labatt’s DNA, now and forever.”