Beam increases bottling facilities for Pinnacle Vodka

Beam Inc has announced plans to “substantially increase” bottling facilities at its headquarters in Kentucky, to allow room for newly-acquired brands Pinnacle Vodka and Calico Jack.

Beam’s Pinnacle Vodka brand is expected to grow in line with the US flavoured vodka market

Having acquired the two brands from White Rock Distilleries in May last year, Beam will move bottling from Maine to its ‘center of excellence’ in Frankfort, Kentucky by the end of Q1 2014.

The transition is expected to be completed in stages, and will add around 45 new jobs.

Ian Gourlay, Beam senior vice president of global operations and supply chain, said: “Consolidating our US bottling operations into our state-of-the-art facility in Kentucky will deliver substantial operational synergies.

“Our highly efficient and newly expanded Frankfort facility currently bottles approximately 10 million cases a year and has the capability to absorb the additional – and growing – volume of the three-million-case Pinnacle brand, further enhancing our capacity utilization.”

Beam’s bottling operations exist in its Clermont, Frankfort, Loretto and Boston, KY distilleries.

Sales of Pinnacle are expected to grow in demand in line with the flavoured vodka category, which accounted for a quarter of all vodka sales in the US during 2011.