Molson Coors breaks ground on new Longueuil production and distribution centre

Breaking ground at new Molson Coors plant Coors Molson broke ground Friday on its new ultramodern production and distribution plant in Longueuil.

Molson Coors broke ground Friday on the 140-acre site of what will become its new plant in Longueuil.

The site will be home to a new ultramodern production and distribution centre, which officials say is one of the most significant investments in the company’s 230-year history.

Not only will the site be modernized, but it will also be environmentally-friendly, said Supply Chain Manager Matthew Hook in a statement.

"The project will be our most modern and forward-looking production facility and distribution centre," he said. "The new brewery will be equipped with improved technologies that will allow us to reduce our energy consumption, CO2 emissions and carbon footprint, such as optimized equipment layouts to reduce beer loss and waste, and a state-of-the-art CO2 recovery system."

Molson Coors CEO Frederic Landtmeters said the new site will allow the brewer to be more agile when it comes to beverage trends.

“Just a few things that we’re currently seeing in the market is that there’s a huge shift to more flavoured malt-based beverages. We want to be able to be flexible there. If I’m honest, there’s probably a component of changes that we’re not yet aware of today that are going to appear tomorrow, so from all perspectives, we want to be able to respond to those changes in trends if any when they happen,” he said. “So that’s one thing that is going to be at the heart of the design of this site.”

Officials say some of the memorabilia is set to be moved from the current site on Notre-Dame St. in downtown Montreal. Molson will also maintain a presence at that site, which is steeped in heritage. It is currently up for sale.

“It’s a big change, because we’ve been there in Montreal for so many years but we’re going to make sure that that site is well taken care of as well, and our heritage remains,” said Molson Coors Chairman Geoff Molson, on hand for the groundbreaking event.

Roméo-Vachon St. in Longueuil will be renamed John-Molson St. as part of the celebration of the company’s history.

"We are proud of our heritage and of the fact that the memory of John Molson, the founder, will be preserved. John Molson demonstrated a remarkable blend of entrepreneurship and community spirit and it's a great honour for our company to continue the work he initiated in 1786" said Landtmeters in a statement.

Some union members were protesting outside the site of the groundbreaking ceremony Friday, saying they haven’t been told what kind of production is going to take place in Longueuil and how that will effect staffing. For one, the union is criticizing the brewery’s switch from bottles to canned beer.

“The major difference is in the production. It takes four times fewer employees to produce the cans , so it's major and it's also less ecological,” said Eric Picotte of the Teamsters Union.

Buildings are expected to be erected at the Longueuil site in the spring and the site is expected to open in 2021.