Okanagan Spring Announces Expansion

Written by Peter McIntyre 107.5 KISSFM Tuesday, 08 July 2014 14:02

MLA Eric Foster toasts the crowd
for the expansion at Okanagan Spring Brewery (Kiss FM)

The suds have been flowing at Vernon's Okanagan Spring Brewery which is celebrating an expansion. The Japanese owned company is investing 4.4 million dollars into the 30 year old facility which makes Spring, Sleemen and other beer products. Some tanks and refrigeration will be expanded on the current site to increase capacity by 20 percent, with construction starting in November and finished next April.Brewmaster Stefan Tobler says it will create new jobs -- but how many will depend on sales. "We will be capable of 20 percent more, but the sales won't be up 20 percent within a summer. The sales might take two to three years to reach that capacity," says Tobler. The facility currently has about 140 employees in Vernon. Tobler's family started the brewery in 1985. "(The success and growth) is amazing and great. I've been here from the first day. When I started I didn't know anything about beer. I just knew how to drink it. I was 19, and I did go back to Germany to study brewing and that's how I ended up being the brewmaster," Tobler told the media on hand for the announcement. The brewery on 27A Avenue -- which is owned by Sapporo of Japan -- currently produces 45 million litres a year of beer products, including six types of Okanagan Spring beer. Tobler says the products made in Vernon are sold as far east as Ontario and Quebec, and he says their biggest seller is a 50-50 mix of Sleemen and Spring products.Vernon Monasee MLA Eric Foster joined the Sleeman team and special guests at the brewery today to toast to their success, and wish the expansion well. "It's a pleasure to see Okanagan Spring do so well locally, provincially and now nationally – and still receive such strong investment and support in its homeland," says Foster. "The brewery is already a local icon here in Vernon, and the expansion will be a great boost to the community," he added. Councillor Catherine Lord, speaking on behalf of Vernon council, says the city likes to see businesses expand. "We like to bring in new business, but I like to think it's really nice to nurture our own businesses. It's going to be a nice boost to our economy," Lord told Kiss