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Diageo halts Crown Royal distillery build
Johnnie Walker owner Diageo has paused the construction of its CA$245 million (US$175.4m) distillery for Canadian whisky Crown Royal.
Plans for the distillery, located in the St Clair Township of Southwestern Ontario in Canada, were revealed two years ago, with the project due to be built in stages, beginning with warehouses and a substation on approximately 400 acres of industrial-zoned land.
The intention was for the distillery to support momentum and growth ambitions for Crown Royal, with the new facility providing capacity to produce up to 20 million litres of absolute alcohol – the equivalent to 10.5m proof gallons – annually.
The site was expected to start producing Crown Royal whisky by 2025, however a statement issued by Diageo officials on Wednesday (20 November) said: “Given the dynamic nature of our broader business and our emphasis on productivity, we have decided to pause the development of our facility in Lambton County’s St Clair Township.
“We will be revisiting plans and timeline at a later date, as part of our regular review of investments and priorities across our supply chain footprint.”
Initially, the company said the site would include a distillery and blending facilities, and was expected to employ ‘dozens’ of workers.
Diageo’s Spirit of Progress sustainability action plan was intended to shape the design and development of the distillery, which would have featured resource efficiency technologies and operate with 100% renewable energy to ensure it was carbon neutral and produced zero-waste to landfill from all direct operations.
St Clair Township mayor Jeff Agar said municipal officials spoke last week with company representatives during an online meeting about the project. He said that Diageo had not revealed how long the pause might last.
The new Diageo St Clair Distillery was planned to supplement the company’s existing Canadian manufacturing operations in Amherstburg, Ontario, Gimli, Manitoba, and Valleyfield, Quebec.
Diageo is one of the major producers of spirits in Canada.
The Spirits Business has reached out to Diageo for further comment.
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