Australia: Lion launches A$60 million Little Creatures brewery

Lion officially launched its new A$60 million Little Creatures brewery and hospitality venue in Geelong on December 9 ahead of its official opening on December 10.

Little Creatures announced plans to develop the 11-hectare site, which was once a 1920s art-deco textile mill, in early 2012 - just months before the publicly-listed company was acquired by Lion, according to the Shout.

The Geelong brewery will produce 1.25 million cartons of packaged beer in its first year of operation and has already started servicing its primary markets along the east coast of Australia.

This is the third Little Creatures brewery and will more than double total brewing capacity, alongside the existing breweries in Fremantle, and the Healesville site also in regional Victoria, which creates the boutique White Rabbit beer and Pipsqueak cider products also within the Little Creatures portfolio.

“Little Creatures is one of Australia’s most popular craft beers, and our investment in this major new brewery at Geelong will allow us to meet the growing demand for the Little Creatures portfolio of beers now, and into the future,” said Lion CEO, Stuart Irvine.

“Importantly, we’ll be able to produce beer closest to where our future growth will come from – the eastern states. Beer is always best consumed fresh, and this allows us to provide fresher product to the eastern market."

The brewery was commissioned in July this year and contains modern German brewing technology and environmental initiatives such as waste heat collection and a carbon dioxide recycling system.

The brewery was opened by the Premier of Victoria, Dr Denis Napthine, who acknowledged the importance of the new development in the area following recent redundancies and the decision to close the Ford manufacturing plant in Geelong in 2016.

“The development of the new brewery was a further boon to Victoria’s biggest regional city and a great example of innovation. I congratulate Lion on the development of the brewery site and their ongoing commitment to promoting and building jobs in this great region.”

11 December, 2013