Photo courtesy of Diego Canada
Products Tailored for the
Craft Brewing Industry
Serving the Brewing & Distilling Industries Since 1964.
Pumps &
Spare Parts
ROLEC DH (Dry Hopping)
Induction Systems
1-800-361-5361 • 705-743-5361 • sales@harco.on.ca • www.harcosupply.com
675 The Parkway, Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7K2
Heat Exchangers
Valves, Pumps
and Spare Parts
Model DH90
Model DH45
Valves,
Instrumentation
and Spare Parts
Hose &
Fittings
Sanitary
Gauges
that comprise our blends, which are
then aged for varying periods in either
new or reused charred oak barrels. Our
maturing barrels experience extreme
temperature swings, the wood’s expansion
and contraction slowly adding to the
developing character. Once the whiskies
have been aged to our blenders’ satisfaction,
they are blended to create the signature
rich, smooth, award-winning flavour of
Crown Royal.”
Recently, Crown Royal was accorded
high praise from international spirits
writers that judged the brand’s Northern
Harvest Rye line extension as being among
the world’s finest spirit blends. Altogether,
Gimli produces five basic whiskies that
are matured and blended to create sev-eral
Crown Royal products. These include
Crown Royal Reserve, a spirit that rests
in specially selected casks for a smooth,
velvety mouthfeel; Crown Royal Black, a
higher alcohol variation that is matured
in charred casks; and the much-praised
Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye, one of
the very few true rye whiskies. Extensions
also include a variety of flavoured whiskies
such as peach and apple.
Sustainable developments
Diageo itself was launched in 1997, fol-lowing
the marriage of Guinness Brewing
and leisure brand Grand Metropolitan.
Today the company is headquartered in
London, England, in Park Royal and oper-ates
in over 180 countries at more than
140 sites. Leading brands include Smirnoff,
Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Baileys,
J&B, Tanqueray, Guinness, Crown Royal,
Ciroc and a wealth of others. Until very
recently, the company was the world’s larg-est
distiller. Today, its capabilities are still
vast. It is the largest global producer of
Scotch whisky. Scotch is Diageo’s largest
category with 24 per cent of sales com-ing
from this area. Labels include Talisker,
Lagavulin, Haig and J&B, in addition to
Johnny Walker and a host of others. Here in
Canada, Diageo brands account for 26 per
cent of the spirits market.
With an eye toward enhanced efficien-cies
and creating best-in-class operations,
Diageo has made significant investments.
For example, in 2015, Diageo invested $6.4
million to acquire a new canning line at
the facility in Valleyfield, for ready-to-drink
products. After the acquisition of the can
line, $45 million was allocated to upgrade
the distillation and packaging processes
at Valleyfield’s plant. Over the past three
years, the company invested $24 million to
improve productivity, safety and quality at
the Amherstburg, Ont., site.
Diageo has also taken significant
steps to reduce its environmental footprint.
“We’ve reduced carbon emissions substan-tially
over the past 10 years. We are com-mitted
to a target of zero waste to landfill,”
said Rumble, mentioning that in Valleyfield,
Diageo improved water efficiency by 75 per
cent since 2013, and aims at achieving zero
emissions by 2030.
“The Valleyfield site achieved zero
waste to landfill in 2013, and since then
all waste generated at the plant is recycled,
reused, composted or sent to a waste to
energy facility. Diageo invested $4.5 million
in technology for new scrubbers that could
recover a significant amount of ethanol
emitted during fermentation operations.
The ethanol then is used in distilling
operations,” she said, adding that Diageo’s
ambition is to make Valleyfield a “carbon
neutral” site in the next five years.
Further initiatives are part of Diageo’s
10-year global sustainability targets. “By
2030, we are committed to using 100 per
cent renewable energy to achieve net-zero
carbon emissions; to producing every
drink with 30 per cent less water and
to using 100 per cent recycled content
in packaging.”
World-leading social and
HR initiatives
Diageo considers health and safety to be an
essential human right. “Creating the con-ditions
for our people to succeed, which
includes an expectation of safety in the
workplace, is at the top of our priorities,”
said Rumble. “Our Zero Harm program
is aimed at ensuring that all our people
go home safe every day and eliminating
fatalities from our business. We aim to
have less than one lost-time accident per
1,000 employees, with no fatalities. Diageo’s
Global Employee Alcohol Policy empow-ers
employees to act as ambassadors for
responsible drinking through our DRINKiQ
program. Under our Occupational Health
initiative, we encourage our employees to
adopt a healthy and balanced lifestyle.”
On the Covid-19 front, Diageo struck
an executive working group at the outset
of the pandemic. This group monitors
the spread of Covid-19 across their
D I S T I L L E R Y P R O F I L E
Jodi Rumble, general manager, Diageo Canada
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