Le Bockale chooses contract brewing for the future

The Le Bockale brewery announces a major restructuring of its operations and the transfer of its production to an external supplier. As with many businesses, inflation and rising interest rates are a heavy financial burden.

“The business has reached a certain stage. We are the pioneers of alcohol-free products in Quebec, with a very large volume. We are coming to a time with good sales growth, and we are looking at how we can counter inflation. This led us to make an important decision. I had two options: either to invest or to relocate production,” explains Michael Jean – CEO of Le Bockale microbrewery and VP of production of the Duvernois group, in an interview with L’Express – Drummondville.

Le Bockale had announced the closure of its bar in Drummondville in January and major layoffs in April. The rumor machine and the hundreds of messages on Messenger and by email, point in this direction of radical change for the company.

And we should not be surprised by this choice, because Nicolas Duvernois, the CEO of Duvernois Esprits Créatifs (Pur Vodka, Romeo Gin, Choco Crème, and others) and majority shareholder of the Le Bockale microbrewery, launched these products using the contract brewing services. Which helped him focus on sales, marketing, and distribution.

To be continued.

The analysis presented by Boisson Québec: professional network providing access to content based on information for the artisanal and industrial beverage sector from here and elsewhere.

• Breweries of all sizes are turning to contract brewing to continue their operations. For some breweries, this recourse is a survival strategy.
• There is a lot of production capacity among breweries. According to our discussions with many of them, there is more than 15% of capacity available.
• Entrepreneurs in the beverage industry need to analyze their situation, in the short and long term, to see how contract brewing in all its forms can help launch new products or increase the production of flagship products.
• Having a contract brewing strategy in place can also free up your team for sales, marketing, and finding opportunities.
• There are different contracted services, and not only at the brewing level but also concerning the distribution and the sale, which can be interesting.
  For members of Boisson Québec, we are working on workshops and panels on contract brewing. We will contact you.

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