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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2018
EDITOR Lee Atwater
RESEARCH TEAM Ashley Saint Ashley Tanner EDITORIAL TEAM David MacDonald
DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE & GRAPHIC DESIGN Carmen Fitzpatrick
MANAGING DIRECTOR Stewart Gregg
SOCIAL MEDIA LEAD Calli Gregg
CONTENT AND OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Rod Gregg RESEARCH & SPECIAL PROJECT MANAGER James Oxley
John Allaire Jamie Barrie
CONTENT SERVICES LEAD Cameron Gregg ADMINISTRATOR LEADS Erica Atwater Alia Morash
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Katie Davis Janice Buckler Denise Alison Jody Euloth Ceiledh Monk Dan Monk
PUBLISHER AIDACA Media
T he XXIII Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea have come to an end and I must say that it was an exciting 16 days of competition, comrad- ery and celebration as athletes from all around put themselves to the test of achieving Olympic Gold. Mt. Begbie Brewing Company knows a thing or two about winning on the world stage. In May of 2017 they took home two gold medals for their High Country Kölsch and Begbie Cream Ale at the Canadian Brewing Awards and won Brewery of the Year in the same competition. It might not have been Olympic gold, but the company’s High Country Kölsch was named the world’s best at the 2017 World Beer Awards in London, England. We had the opportunity to speak with Tracey Larson, co-owner of the Mt. Begbie Brewing Company. Tracey Larson along with Darryn Shewchuk, the Director of Sales and Marketing had a lot to say about success of the brewery and Bart Larson, a man of science with “an artistic, if somewhat bohemian, flair for beer making.” Central Alberta, in Canada’s west, is known for agriculture and oil. But more and more, it’s becoming the newest hot spot for the craft brewing explosion. Leading the charge is Blindman Brewing, a craft brewery located in the small city of Lacombe, just a hop-and- a-skip north of Red Deer. With the local food movement going strong and a large local-business support infrastructure, Lacombe seemed to be the perfect place to set up shop and brew beer. We sit down with Blindman’s Hans Doef and Shane Groendahl to chat about the craft beer scene in Central Alberta, the incredible local support they have received, and their rapid growth in two short years. When Spotlight on Business reached out to Dean and Louise Perry, the husband and wife co- owners of After Dark Distillery in Sicamous, British Columbia, we knew that we were in for a good story. When asked to tell how the distillery came to be, Louise couldn’t have been more modest: “We were looking for something else to do, another adventure.” That adventure has crafted quite a reputation for After Dark Distillery amongst BC distillers and connoisseurs of artisan spirits in The Pacific Province. We then head south of the border to chat with Josh Van Riper and Brian LeFevre, owners of Twin Monkeys Beverage Canning Systems in Aurora, Colorado and learn
that no one is better qualified to establish the evolutionary fitness of their business than engineers and Josh Van Riper and Brian LeFevre are proof. Learn how Twin Monkeys are providing solutions to inde- pendent small and big batch brewers everywhere. Good first impressions aren’t about handshakes or eye contact or a certain look; they’re about tone. It’s all about good vibrations (think The Beach Boys or Marky Mark featuring the Funky Bunch). When Matt Leslie and his business partner Kevin Pederson launched West Coast Canning back in 2014 they were Canada’s first mobile canning endeav- our. Learn how they were about to take the business coast-to- coast with a merge with Canada’s second mobile canning company, Sessions Craft Canning out of Toronto, to become the nation’s foremost full service mobile packaging solution for craft breweries, cideries, distilleries, and wineries. We hope that your business will set a personal best or even Olympic gold status in 2018 and we would like to thank all those involved with this issue and our readers as we look forward to telling more stories about successful businesses and the people making it happen.
Lee Ann Atwater Editor
279 Gary St, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3C 1H9 | PO Box 350007 Halifax, Nova Scotia B3M 0G3 P: 204 272 6228 E: info@spotlightonbusinessmagazine.com spotlightonbusinessmagazine.com
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The Mt. Begbie Brewing Company wins. No, I’m not talking about Mt. Begbie taking home two gold medals for their High Country Kölsch and Begbie Cream
Ale at the Canadian Brewing Awards in May 2017 – or winning Brewery of the Year in the same competition. No, I’m not talking about the fact that High Country Kölsch was named the world’s best at the 2017 World Beer Awards in London, England.
I’m talking about an informal competition we have here at Spotlight on Business: Best About Page. You can imagine that we read a lot of them – and don’t get me wrong, it’s not all about bios and backstories – but the About Us page at Mt-Begbie.com has the wittiest bent we’ve come across on a company’s website in a long time. Here’s my favourite example: “Bart has a Ph.D. in nuclear physics, but he prefers to make beer and not war.” They win. Bart Larson, the co-owner of the Mt. Begbie Brewing Company in Revelstoke, British Columbia really does have a Ph.D. in nuclear physics and he really does have a laissez- ...
Central Alberta, in Canada’s west, is known for agriculture and oil. But more and more, it’s becoming the newest hot spot for the craft brewing explosion. Leading the charge is Blindman Brewing, a craft brewery located in the small city of Lacombe, just a hop-and- a-skip north of Red Deer. With the local food movement going strong and a large local-business support infrastructure, Lacombe seemed to be the perfect place to set up shop and brew beer. Named after a river that winds its way through Central Alberta, Blindman started with a couple of friends looking for a career change. Founders, Hans Doef and Dave Van- derPlaat saw the ‘craft’ trend coming from other areas of North America and decided to pool talents and resources with some business-savvy “beer geeks” toward opening their own brewery. In June 2015, property had been secured and industrial bays were being converted into brewing stations. In August of the same year, equipment began arriving and, within a couple of months, Blindman was selling kegs. Spotlight on Business spoke with Blindman’s Hans Doef and Shane Groendahl about the craft beer scene in Central Alberta, the incredible local support they have received, and their rapid growth in two short years.
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03 SPOTLIGHT ON FEBRUARY
08 FEBRUARY INDUSTRY EVENTS
10 SPOTLIGHT ON INDUSTRY 10 MESH MEDIA NETWORK How to do “Sponsorship” the RIght Way 12 TWIN MONKEYS BEVERAGE SYSTEMS INC Canned Beverages are the Future 18 WEST COAST CANNING Canada’s FIrst Mobile Canning Company 22 CONTRACTORS’ CORNER Howmuch, approximately will the project cost? 24 NORTHERN CANNING Ontario’s Mobile Canning Company 30 IRON HEART CANNING CO. Quality on the Road 36 SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS 36 BLINDMAN BREWING Great Vibes, Great Beer 44 MT. BEGBIE BREWING CO LTD. Make Beer, Not War 52 HEARTHSTONE BREWERY We Brew this Beer you don’t know you Love Yet 58 STRATIGRO SMALL BUSINESS TIP FOR FEBRUARY 6 Secrets of Happy Entrepreneurs 60 AFTER DARK DISTILLERY Just like the Old Days 64 PEPPER NORTH Award Winning Sauces
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When Spotlight on Business had the opportunity to chat with the owners of Twin
Monkeys Beverage Canning Systems in Aurora, Colorado, I was imme- diately captivated by their backstory – and it put me in mind of a quote. At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco in 2012, Jim Goetz, the famous Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist, told a room full of reporters and aspiring startups that “It’s shocking we don’t see more engineers and entrepreneurs interested in enterprise.” Simply put, Goetz gets it. He’s a Stanford educated electrical and computer engineer who sits on the board of directors for the likes of Carbon3D, ...
THE BEST STORIES have modest beginnings. Sure, I get the appeal of tales about the conquering hero, but the setup is almost always weighed-down by a list of past victories – and very few defeats – that have little or no meaning for what’s to come. That entire pretense, all that bluster just gets in the way of the real action that is the living characters. When Spotlight on Business reached out to Dean and Louise Perry, the husband and wife co-owners of After Dark Distillery in Sicamous, British Columbia, I knew that I was in for a good story – the best kind.
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72 SPOTLIGHT ON HEALTH
72 HOLISTIC HEALTH TIP FOR FEBRUARY BY JANICE BUCKLER The Secret to a Healthy Diet is what you Leave Out
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When I asked the pair...
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A IDACA MEDIA understands that small and medium size enterprises and businesses are key to the successful growth of any economy and just as import- ant as big businesses to the global economy as a whole. By putting a spotlight on your business, organization or commu- nity with effective and interactive media and advertising we will help you capture the interest of business leaders and potential clients, giving you an opportunity to promote your brand and grow market share through mobile, online, print and social media support, helping your business connect and stay engaged with your customers.
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There is no shortage of tales about wayfarers heading up to Canada’s north, looking for a new life adventure. And with nearby diamond and precious metal mining, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories sees its fair share of new faces. The locals will tell you that people come and go, but there are a few constants — it’s very cold much of the year, the Aurora Borealis is stunning, and the inhabitants of Canada’s north enjoy a good brew. Fletcher Stevens has lived in Yellowknife his entire adult life, building a career as a mechanic for a major car company. He and his wife Miranda were looking to beat the high cost of beer in the North...
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Industry Conference has been pro- viding a forum for tourism businesses and stakeholders from around British Columbia to come together to learn from experts and each other about the key issues, challenges and best practices in the industry. We welcome anyone interested in tourism to participate in this annual gathering! Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with other tourism business- es, communities and government leaders - share ideas, ask questions, network, learn, and explore! For more information of the event: http://www.bctourismconference.ca/ Follow on Twitter : @WesternFair Follow on Facebook: @BCTourismConf
For more information of the event: http://www.fieryfoodsshow.com/ Follow on Twitter: @WesternFair
Follow on Facebook : @WesternFairDistrict
LONDON FARM SHOW
March 7 th – 9 th , 2018
Metroland Media Agriplex – London, ON, Canada
30 TH NATIONAL FIERY FOODS & BARBECUE SHOW
The London Farm Show is celebrat- ing 80 years of this amazing event which is the largest Indoor Farm Show in Eastern Canada. This event brings leaders together, showcasing the latest industry trends and newest technology. This event aims to provide companies an opportunity to display big brand equipment, provide insightful speaker programs and showcase the latest products and services in agriculture. For more information of the event: https://www.westernfairdistrict.com/ london-farm- show Follow on Twitter: @WesternFair
March 2 nd – 4 th , 2018
Sandia Resort and Casino Events Center – Albuquerque, NM, USA
The National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show is the largest and longest-run- ning trade show in the nation for fiery foods & BBQ. Whether you’re an established name in hot sauce, or a start-up looking for exposure, the Fiery Foods Show is guaranteed to help boost your sales and make people aware of your products. Many of our exhibitors come back year after year, and they tell us repeatedly that our show is the best one of the year. The National Fiery Foods & Barbecue Show is a unique business opportunity, providing both trade and consumer exposure. This show offers both volume selling to qual- ified wholesale buyers, as well as the chance to do market research, raise consumer awareness of your products, and to conduct retail sales during designated consumer hours.
HOMESTYLES HOME SHOW
March 8 th – 11 th , 2018
Prairieland Park - Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Follow on Facebook: @WesternFairDistrict
At HomeStyles, your home and life- style show, there’s something for everyone as the event is one of Western Canada’s Premier Home Shows! This year’s show promises to be bigger and better than ever! With over 500 booths in two halls, and exciting guest speakers, along with local experts on a variety of topics, you can’t help but love the experi-
2018 BC TOURISM INDUSTRY CONFERENCE
March 7 th – 9 th , 2018
Delta Grand Okanagan - Kelowna, BC, Canada
For over 20 years, the BC Tourism
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ence! HomeStyles offers you one- stop- shopping like nowhere else – but it only comes once a year! So be sure to check it out.
The National Home Show is the largest North American display of innovative products, new ideas and great deals for all things home and garden with over 800 retailers and industry experts at the event. For more information of the event: https://nationalhomeshow.com Follow on Twitter: @HomeShowsTO Follow on Facebook: @Torontohomeshows
For more information of the event: https://homestylesonline.com
Follow on Twitter: @HomeStylesShow Follow on Facebook: @homestyleshomeshow
SEAFOOD EXPO NORTH AMERICA
March 11 th – 13 th , 2018
Boston Convention and Exhibition Center – Boston, MA, USA
Seafood Expo North America/Seafood Processing North America is North America’s largest seafood trade exposition. If you are a professional seafood buyer, you do not want to miss this event.
The exposition features over 1,340 exhibiting companies from more than 50 countries.
Exhibitors supply nearly every type of fish, seafood, and seafood-related product or service.
For more information of the event: https://www.seafoodexpo.com/north-america/ Follow on Twitter: @bostonseafood Follow on Facebook: @seafoodexponorthamerica
PEI PROVINCIAL HOME SHOW
SPE CANADA HEAVY OIL TECHNICAL CONFERENCE
March 9 th – 11 th , 2018
March 13 th – 14 th , 2018
Eastlink Centre - Charlottetown, PE, Canada
Calgary Telus Convention Centre - Calgary, AB, Canada
The 30th edition of the PEI Provincial Home Show promises to be a huge success! For 30 years this show has evolved into THE must attend event for homeowners and prospective homeowners to see the leaders of the Island homebuilding and renova- tion industries! For more information of the event: http://www.peihomeshow.ca/ Follow on Twitter: @peihomeshow Follow on Facebook : @PEIHomeShow
The co-located SPE Canada Heavy Oil and Unconventional Resources Con- ferences are the premier platforms in North America to enable the exchange of information through case studies, technical advancements, and business strategies that allow energy projects to deliver favorable returns at prevailing oil prices.
For more information of the event: http://www.spe.org Follow on Twitter: @SPEtweets Follow on Facebook: @spemembers
NATIONAL HOME SHOW
March 9 th – 18 th , 2018
EnercareCentre - Toronto, ON, Canada
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Jody Euloth is the CEO of The Mesh Media Network and Founder of The Dynamic Soul of Selling. She helps entrepreneurs, business and sales professionals and creative visionaries get over their fear of selling so they can generate more revenue and make a bigger impact in business.
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By Jody Euloth H aving recently come off producing the Atlantic GOLFEXPO in Halifax this month, I’ve had many people ask what exactly we do at The Mesh Media Network. Though we offer many services, ranging from integrated marketing campaigns to sales training, one of our primary services includes securing and managing corporate sponsorship of events. This type of experiential marketing can be a powerful tool in engaging your clients and making a lasting impact of your brand. Over the years, the landscape of sponsorship has changed, and if you don’t know how to sell it properly, you will be overlooked for your ask. And on the flip side, for businesses, it’s no longer about forking over money for their logo to appear at a certain sponsorship level. It’s about working together with the event and venue that you are sponsoring, so that you are targeting the right demographic of your consumers, and then strategically engaging with these consumers to give them a memorable experience. This collab- oration enhances your event, the brand and the consumer experience on all levels. At the Atlantic GOLFEXPO, our team asked Steele Jaguar to come on as a sponsor of the event. Though not everyone will see the connection here, it was a prefect partnership. The demographic of the people attending the golf expo, is the same as what Steele Jaguars already attracts or is trying to reach as a potential customer for the brand. It’s a lifestyle, as many attendees of the golf expo are adventurous, sporty, and appreciate the finer things in life. Steele Jaguar, immediately recognized the opportunity. We had five bright and shiny Jaguars situated all over the showroom floor. Attendees could admire and envision themselves driving these vehicles, leaving an emotional impression with potential buyers. But the activation didn’t stop there. We then had a fleet of Jaguars transport our exhibitors, made up of golf course owners and GM’s, to our reception at the Halifax Distilling Co. This gave Jaguar an opportunity to have their target demographic truly experience the beauty and luxury of the vehicles. With bums in seats, we created a first-class experience that our exhibitors will not soon forget. This type of engagement marketing allows a brand to create an emotional attachment to the product or service. It requires creative thinking to ensure that marketing objectives are met and unique experiences are produced. To sell the sponsorship, you must first do your homework on the brand you are approach- ing with a firm understanding of their goals. It’s imperative to present ‘what’s in it for them’ and how the sponsorship will benefit their brand. And then create something spectacular together. If you’re a business owner or work for a company who is not utilizing this experiential marketing avenue, your brand is missing out on a valuable connection opportunity with your consumers. If done right, spon- sorship will leave a lasting impression on existing and new potential consumers.
For more, sales tips and strategies, sign up for ‘The Dynamic Soul of Selling’ Newsletter at www.meshmedianetwork.ca/dynamic-soul- of-selling/
For a free 15-minute sales consultation to determine if you would benefit from ‘The Dynamic Soul of Selling 90-minute Strategy Session’ email jody@meshmedianetwork.com.
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When Spotlight on Business had the opportunity to chat with the owners of Twin Monkeys Beverage Canning Systems in Aurora, Colorado, I was immediately captivated by their backstory – and it put me in mind of a quote. At the TechCrunch Disrupt conference in San Francisco in 2012, Jim Goetz, the famous Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist, told a room full of reporters and aspiring startups that “It’s shocking we don’t see more engineers and entrepreneurs interested in enterprise.” Simply put, Goetz gets it. He’s a Stanford educated electrical and computer engineer who sits on the board of directors for the likes of Carbon3D, Jive Software, Barracuda Networks, and WhatsApp. He knows that no one is better qualified to establish the evolutionary fitness of their business than engineers and Josh Van Riper and Brian LeFevre are proof. “We take our customer feedback and we use that to continually redesign our lines,” Josh told me. “It’s basically an evolutionary process that we practice here and that’s just not true of everybody in this industry.” Their affordable inline filling systems, from the tiny footprint, tabletop Yampa system to the full-sized Animas and San Juan systems that have a throughput of 35-plus and 70-plus cans a minute respectively (and two new filling systems debuting soon that will be the smallest in their class), are proving to independent small and big batch brewers everywhere that “Yes, you CAN!”
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By David MacDonald T hey’ll create a fully-automated packaging line that fits in your facility. They’ll meet your CIP (Clean-in- Place) and SIP (Sanitize-in- Place) needs. They have equip- ment experience with box erectors, palletizers, depalletiz- ers, drop packers, fillers, crown conveyors, fill level inspec- tion systems, marking systems, automated valve controls – and more. They have controls experience with PLCs (Pro- grammable Logic Contollers), HMIs (Human-Machine Inter- faces), SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), remote system control, process PID (Proportional-Integral- Derivative) loops, databases, and alarming systems. “We can help with the systems and anything that helps run the systems that help make beverages,” Josh said. “Brian and I are both automation engineers and we both came at it from different angles; he’s more of a mechanical engineer and I do more of the programming and electrical work.” Between the two owners of Twin Monkeys Beverage Canning Systems and their on-site engineering team there is over 60 years of combined experience designing custom applications and integrating various pieces of equipment from a wide variety of vendors. “Brian and I met 15 or 20 years ago on a job doing the same kind of project work,” Josh explained. “We have deep experience with automa- tion engineering. Meanwhile, I had been home brewing since it was legal for me to do it; I worked at Anheuser Busch for a bit and then opened my own brewery in 2013. I was a professional brewer for about two-and- a-half years and created some nice recipes before I sold it to my business partner so that I could concentrate on this startup Brian and I had put together: Twin Monkeys.”
“It came about because we identified a particular need in the market for a kind of quality we knew exactly how to deliver with canning lines,” he continued. “What we were seeing out there we thought were either over-priced or of poor quality so we thought we could deliver a pretty good package. We had created a canning line and a keg washer for my brewery back in 2013/2014 and that’s when we knew we had this thing nailed. We said, “Let’s go!” and we opened the business up and started to sell them to everyone.” Brian explained that the sales side of Twin Monkeys starts with a specification worksheet that their customers order from like you would with a brand new car. “You can think of it like someone saying, ’I want the chrome wheels, but I don’t want the CD six-pack in the back.’ We have lots of options. That process allows us to talk to the customer about their exact needs, which often allows us to identify some unique needs that we will then take a look at before we finalize the release of the project. Being automation engineers we latch onto these unique needs and we get to work figuring out what it is we have to do to for each customer. What we hear more than anything about our competitive advantage is that we don’t sit still. Most of our competitors – or at least some of them – won’t redesign or customize their product with any kind of regularity and we do – all the time.” “It’s basically an evolutionary process that we practice here and that’s just not true of everybody in this industry.” Part of not sitting still is reaching out. Josh’s and Brian’s respective and extensive backgrounds in equipment and controls integration have made them a lot of friends. “Our resumes really enable us to pull in others – what we call “solutions partners” – into the full system,” Josh said. “We design canning lines and what that means is that the portion we do fills the can, puts the lid on the can, and it seals the can – and then cleans up after itself. But there are other things that are needed in a canning line to make it fully functioning from start to finish. Some people need depal- letizing, which takes the cans off of a pallet and into our filling line; some people need specialized rinsing systems; and others need accumulation systems or labeling systems. Sometimes these are things we don’t do in-house because there are others who we’ve partnered with who do that quite well. It’s nice for us because we can approach a customer, or vice versa, and they know that one of their options is to order the entire kit and caboodle from us. They don’t have to just buy one component from us or a portion of what they need; they can get it all from us. They can also just go with what we design in-house, as well.”
Canning lines also do a lot for the curb appeal of any brewery, Brian explained. Many Twin Monkey customers
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spotlight their systems on social media platforms because it’s great for business – but some craft brewers take it a step further. “When people are sitting in a typical brewpub, for example, they’re gathered together and looking onto the floor of the actual brewery at the tanks and the whole process and they’re seeing that what they’re drinking is being produced right there. Many of our customers will situate their canning lines right there, front and center, and it really memorizes people. People aren’t used to watching automation like that and it really is a cool thing to just sit there and watch. It really brings people in if they know that they can see everything that’s going on.” “Brian and I are both automation engineers and we both came at it from different angles; he’s more of a mechanical engineer and I do more of the programming and electrical work.” And it really is that everything element that is driving the ongoing renaissance in cans. “In the end it’s being driven by the consumers,” Josh explained. “The consumers are demanding cans more and more for their own reasons: It’s easier to maintain the quality of the product because there’s no light that can get into those cans and light will skunk a
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beer over time; the cans are also lighter and more portable and easier to take when you’re backpacking or going on a beach adventure and that kind of thing; then there’s the recycling part of the equation. So I think the market is being driven more by the consumers than anything.” Brian continued. “There are also a lot of laws restricting bottle usage in places like public parks throughout the United States and Canada. That’s also pushing a lot of people to cans. You can take a six-pack out with you for the day and then smash ‘em flat when you’re done and, typically, you can find some sort of aluminum can recycling bin somewhere – you can also just put them in your backpack and take them back for a refund.” “We felt that we had to educate ourselves about what the process takes so that our customers, who often don’t know what to do, have their options in front of them when they talk to us,” Josh explained. “Cans have a unique problem in that most of the people who make cans and deliver them don’t want to deal in small volumes. A lot of times the big can manufacturers tell small brewers that they will supply them with one semi-truck full of one type of can and then a second type of can would require buying a second semi- truck load – that’s hundreds of thousands of cans. One of the challenges is to figure out how to get lower volumes of While Twin Monkeys does not provide cans in-house, Josh and Brian have got you covered.
cans to these smaller breweries and there are some great middlemen out there offering unique labeling solutions on what they call bright cans, the undecorated cans that help with the lower volume market.” Josh and Brian are truly motivated to find the afford- able options their customers around the globe need to bring their product to cans and the thanks they get, Josh explained, isn’t always free beer. “What we hear more than anything about our competitive advantage is that we don’t sit still.” “It’s such an exciting day for a lot of our customers when they first get their canning line from us. There’s so much that comes together when it’s up and running. The can is the package that they’ve been wanting to get their product into, so it’s a little bit like Christmas for a lot of breweries. Most of our customers want to show it off, they want to profile it for everyone so they take pictures and they take videos of their new canning lines. We received a link to a video at Christmas time of someone who basically made their canning line look like it was pulling a sleigh and their team at the brewery was in the sleigh being pulled by the canning line. That sort of thing really means a lot to us.”
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By Jamie Barrie F or those that borrow at variable rates, loan and mort- gages and those carrying credit card debt the fact that the Canadian inflation rates was higher than expected for core consumer prices in January is not a good sign for interest rates. Inflation rates in Canada were higher than expected for the fourth month and are highest consumers have seen in Canada since September of 2016. The upward trend shows that the Canadian economy continues to outper- form expectations in 2018 as it did in 2017 which is putting increased pressure on The Bank of Canada to increase bor- rowing rates. Some of the blame has been put on provincial wage rate increases and the impact that increased have had employ- ers and these costs now being passed on to consum- ers which effects inflation. However, The Bank of Canada are confident that inflation will stay at about 2 percent on average over the next two years. Market experts are predicting at least two more increas- es this year, in addition to the three times the rate was increased in July by the Bank of Canada to keep Canada on for its 2 percent target .
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Good first impressions aren’t about handshakes or eye contact or a certain look; they’re about tone. It’s all about good vibrations (think The Beach Boys or Marky Mark featuring the Funky Bunch). When Matt Leslie and his business partner Kevin Pederson launched their business back in 2014, they weren’t only tasked with setting the tone in British Columbia where new craft breweries were – and still are – popping-up every month; they were starting something that would quickly resonate coast-to- coast. West Coast Canning was Canada’s first mobile canning endeavour but Matt would be the first person to tell you that being the first out of the gate wasn’t the most crucial element to reaching 90-plus customers throughout BC and Alberta.
“People are leaving their jobs; they’re re-mortgaging their homes to start these craft breweries,” he explained. “That’s why people look for a company like us when they’re ready to can their product. They want someone who cares as much about the business and about craft beer as they do – and that’s us. They’re basically giving us their “baby” and asking us to wrap it up.” Kevin’s andMatt’s attention to detail has even earned both of them nicknames in the craft beer industry: they’re widely known as Mr. 473ml andMr. 355 ml, respectively. Spotlight on Business had the opportunity to chat with Mr. 473ml in late 2017 and it turns out that their reputations have earned thema lot more than nicknames. A little over a year agoWest Coast Canningmerged with Canada’s secondmobile canning company, Sessions Craft Canning out of Toronto, to become the nation’s foremost full servicemobile packaging solution for craft breweries, cideries, distilleries, and wineries.
By David MacDonald H ow is it that West Coast Canning was the first to the punch in the mobile canning game, Matt? ML: Kevin, my business partner, had the idea back in 2012. Kevin’s the guy who’s always looking for the new thing. He’s the guy who saw it all coming down the pipe. We were watching the US market and there were a lot of guys down in Colorado doing well servicing the craft beer market. A couple of years later craft beer really started to take off in BC. Breweries like Brassneck, 33 Acres, and Parallel 49 were doing really well so Kevin and I started to revisit the whole idea. I was in Victoria at the time; he was in Prince George. We started pre-selling the idea and people were really into it. Cans were a bit of a novelty – and difficult to get into – but we decided to go ahead. We purchased the equip- ment, got the truck, did some training and went to work. A year later, over 20 breweries opened in the province and we really started to get busy – now there’s over one hundred in BC alone. That was more or less how the whole thing started. And I understand that West Coast Canning has a birthday coming up – is that right? ML: In March of 2018 we’ll be four years old. We have clients we’re working with now who we were working with three years ago or even longer. We’re working at a much higher capacity now and so are most of them. We see some of these brewers once a week now. It’s been wild to see these guys grow. If it wasn’t for riding their coat tails we wouldn’t be where we are today. They get busier and then as a col-
lective we get busier. It’s been really neat to be a part of it and to see the industry grow as whole.
There are breweries we work with that I wouldn’t even put in the category of clients; they’re friends. These are people we text, we see on weekends, we see around our neigh- bourhoods. It’s pretty darn cool; it’s a really cool industry for that sort of thing. Matt, what does 90-plus clients and four years in business look like in cans? ML: I actually just checked with someone in accounting and it’s actually up to 9.5 million cans now – we’ve done over 700,000 since filling out the research questions for your magazine. We’ll be close to 10million by the end of 2017. What thatcom- puted to over the summer with the summer months being our busiest time was about 25,000 cans a day between our three canning lines in BC and Alberta. It was a fair bit. Six to 8 months down the road we brought in the shrink- sleever. We realized that the barrier to entry was not just the packaging equipment but also the can itself. We were outsourcing cans at the time in the shrink-sleeve can format – and they were expensive. So we decided to bring that in-house and we saved the breweries we worked with a fair amount of money – and we made some more money on our Originally we started with just the one canning line in 2014.
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What is the packaging process like, Matt, and what are the advantages for craft brewers? ML: All of our packaging is done on-site at the client’s brewery – that’s where we do all of the actual canning. We do all the shrink-sleeving at our 25,000 square feet facility, which is what takes up most of the room, and the rest of the process is mobile. We take the finished product, the sleeve can, load it into the truck with our mobile canning line with our day coder, our dissolved oxygen tester, and two of our guys will roll up to the brewery then set-up and sanitize. They’ll then hook-up to the tank where the beer has been conditioned and cooled and then we go to town. They’ll perform quality control throughout the canning run to ensure that everything is packaged to the highest industry standards. When the order is done we shut it down, clean it up, load it back on the truck and get ready for the next day’s run. The canning process always has the potential to go horribly wrong. You can ruin a whole batch of beer that had nothing wrong with it to begin with. That’s why we’ve continually worked on bringing in people, partners, who care as much as we do. We want people working with us who find it just as fulfilling as we do every day, no pun intended. If they’re out there and they’re not enjoying it, it’s not fair to them or to the people who own the brewery. We’ve had some busy summers where our staff has worked some really long hours so you really have to enjoy it! Another important thing to consider is that whole mobile approach allows breweries to maintain their footprint without having to invest in bigger space for their own canning line; it allows them to invest more money in more equipment to brew more beer, which is what most craft breweries need to be doing in the initial stages especially. Investing in an expensive piece of equipment that you’re only going to use once a month doesn’t make a lot of sense – it restricts growth. Speaking of partners and growth, do you care to share with the readers any details about your latest big move in the industry?
side. Just one year after we opened we brought in our second canning line and we brought in the third in late 2017 and the fourth this year with our operation in Calgary. We also upgraded our shrink sleever last year and we have a brand new one coming in mid-February that will have a much higher output. Beer isn’t your only speciality at West Coast Canning is it? ML: Beer is probably 98 percent of what we do. Cider is next. Craft cider is a market that’s growing quickly in terms of volume and demand but it has a long way to go to catch up to beer. “They want someone who cares as much about the business and about craft beer as they do – and that’s us. They’re basically giving us their “baby” and asking us to wrap it up.” We’ve done a few types of RTD, ready-to- drink beverages like a Palm Bay sort of mixture, and we’ve done some cold brew coffees. These sorts of volumes are usually quite small and we can package them in about 20 minutes.
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ML : Just over a year ago we did a merger with Jeff Rogowsky and Sessions Craft Canning in Ontario. They were the second company in Canada to get into mobile canning about eight or nine months after us. Jeff came out to see us in Victoria on our first or second canning run and it was great and they started up in Toronto after that. We’ve since rolled into one company and we took what we had already created in BC and really tried to work with what they had going on in Ontario. We’re trying to fill the gap in a market that goes from big out West to enormous in Ontario. We really wanted to help and be a part of what is going on out there. They’re a sister company and a holding company owns both. It allows us to continue to provide a better service across the board and to continue to drive our price down so that breweries are paying less for their products to get on the shelves for consumers – that’s been the goal since day one. We’re continuing to grow organically, which is what we want. We’ve never had to take on any equity partners and we’ve been continually able to service our debt. It was towards the end of 2016 that myself, Kevin, and Mitch who is another partner – and Jeff at Sessions – recognized that there is a tremendous demand for this. There was a gaping hole in the supply chain and we wanted to be the ones to fill it because we felt we were the best to do so. It was then that we raised some capital and decided to move into the new facility. “It’s been wild to see these guys grow. If it wasn’t for riding their coat tails we wouldn’t be where we are today.” We’re really excited to see where it goes and we’re also excited to see up-and- comers come in and make contribu- tions to innovation and quality. We always want to stay on the top of the game and be leaders in volume and quality. Having a brand that’s cross-country is really cool, too.
to home for you and Kevin and that you both stepped-up and kept a promise that you made to yourselves years back. In the beginning Kevin and I didn’t pay ourselves. We did what we needed to do to grow the business. We knew that once we became profitable that we wanted to give back. We’re now in that position. Kevin and I are both from Northern BC and with the wild fires there this past summer we really wanted to help. In the month of July we kicked-in a penny for every can we filled and that month we filled 500,000 cans, which allowed us to give five grand to the Red Cross. We’re also a predominantly male company so the month of November was a big deal for us with Movember. We are working on bringing in more women at West Coast Canning, but that’s an important cause for us. We grew the moustaches and raised a lot of awareness about prostate cancer along with $8,000. It was really cool. The moustach- es we posted on social media were pretty great. I’ve got to say that being a part of this industry is definitely something that has changed all of our lives. Are the rumours true, Matt? Are you guys bringing back CAN CITY in 2018? CANCITY, as it was, will not be back in the same form for 2018……but…….we do have something great planned coming down the pipe!
Matt, I understand that the devastating wild fires last summer in Northern British Columbia really touched close
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the home” and for good reason. It is where we gather to cook, eat, do homework and always host a good “kitchen party.” Again, the size and scope of a kitchen renovation can vary greatly. A basic kitchen renovation would include removing cabinets and install- ing new, with vinyl flooring and laminate countertops ($15-25K). A more extensive kitchen could encompass, removing walls, tile or hardwood floors, solid surface coun- tertops, built-in appliances, under-cabinet lighting and larger more detailed cabinets ($50-100K plus). The kitchen renovation is often the greatest renovation investment a home owner can make since the room is so critical to the daily function of the home. Basements – For those wishing to add value to their home, finishing an unfinished or reno- vating a dated basement to create additional living space such as bathrooms, bedrooms, laundry, work-out areas, family theater, In-law suites, separate space for young adults or, if zoning allows, a rental income apartment. As you can see from the list of options, the cost of a basement renovation can vary depend- ing on your desires. In my experience, starting from scratch, an entire basement renovation with a 3-piece bathroom will cost approx. $45-85K plus. When considering a basement renovation, it is important to recognize you are adding functional and valuable living space to your home and this adds value. Additions – It is a challenge to provide a price estimate or even a range for an addition as there are so many variables; foundation type, number of stories and interior usage (kitchen, bath, etc.). Let’s assume a 6-8ft foundation wall, concrete basement floor (unfinished) and a single story addition com- pletely finished. For this type of space, I use a
By Dan Monk, P.Eng., Red Seal Carpenter and Owner of MONK Renovations T his question is routinely asked of the renovator during an initial visit with clients and most contractors would prefer not to answer without sitting down and doing calculations. I will attempt to answer this question for bath- rooms, kitchens, basements and additions. Please remember an “estimate” is just that, it is based on observations, contractor knowledge and experience, product allowance, scope of work, etc. This is why esti- mates often varies between contractors and it is always a good practice to get two or three estimates from Trusted – Professional renovators for your project. I will always ask a client for their budget value as this allows me to make suggestions on how to stay within their means. Having a budget is important, but sometimes client’s budgets are simply unrealistic and the scope of work may need to be altered or more money must be sourced to achieve their desired renovation. Bathrooms – A bathroom renovation can vary from the basic demotion and installation of new fixtures, acrylic tub surrounds and vinyl flooring ($10-15K) and more complex bathrooms with tile tub surrounds and floors ($15-18K). A larger more detailed ensuite with a custom shower, vessel tubs, heated floors, etc. ($18-28K plus). The bathroom is possibly the most expensive room per sq.ft. in your home. Bathrooms are the most popular renovation because they add immediate beauty and function to your home, plus the most environment and daily use by multiple people causes bathrooms to simple wear out. Kitchens – The kitchen is often referred to as the “heart of
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“ball park” value of $175-$225 per sq.ft. of living space. I always recommend clients spend the time and money on a set of professionally prepared plans to allow clarity to the renovator, therefore a more accurate estimate.
The above estimates are based on my personal experience.
Remember, good planning, product research/selection, establishing a reasonable budget and selecting a reputable and knowledgeable renovator will go a long way to achieving a successful renovation.
D an Monk is the owner of Monk Renovations. Dan started in construction when he was 15 as a summer job and has been hooked on construction ever since. He studied engineering at St Francis Xavier Univer- sity and the Technical University of Nova Scotia (Dalhousie University), where he graduated as a civil engineer. Dan is passionate and knowledgeable about construction, project management and client service. Dan proudly and confidently began Monk Renovations from the ground up and has been renovating bathrooms, kitchens, basements, exteriors, decks, additions and anything else you would imagine over the past ten construction seasons. Along this journey, Dan has become an expert in the res- idential renovation/construction industry as an entrepre- neur, civil engineer and most recently, a Red Seal Carpen- ter. Dan’s trustworthiness, professionalism and unrelenting determination has led to many exceptional accomplish- ments such as Most Outstanding Kitchen Renovation of the Year 2017 and Renovator of the Year 2016 & 2018! We are happy and excited to have Dan Monk join our edi- torial team at Spotlight on Business Magazine. We have featured Dan Monk and Monk Renovations twice in the magazine, the April 2016 Issue and July 2017 Issue. Now we look forward to sharing his knowledge and expertise with you each month on different topics related to the construc- tion industry and being a renovations specialist entrepre- neur.
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“Once we’re up and running, we can package up to 10 hectolitres per hour and up to 75 hectolitres per day.”
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The hook and the slogan is that Northern Canning offers “Professional packaging services at your doorstep” but there’s something more to this Bolton-based newcomer – something distinctly Canadian. Maybe it’s the image of the company’s 4x4 hauling its mobile canning line in a logo- wrapped trailer through the snowcapped Opeongo Hills in Southern Ontario. Maybe it’s the reason they’ve committed to cans: Seventy-five percent of all cans manufactured are still in circulation today and they contain more than three times the recycled content than glass bottles. Or maybe it’s the spirit of purpose that has touched so many craft breweries, distilleries, and cider houses. “We’re 100 percent locally owned and owner-operated,” co-owner Nicole Stamcos explained with determination in her voice. “We are proud to say that because most of our clients are in the same boat; small batch beverage producers that do most of the work themselves. There’s something special about small businesses working together to make each other better and grow the industry they love.” Since hitting the road for the first time in September 2017, Northern Canning has already canned over a quarter million beverages – and Nicole told Spotlight on Business that they plan to reach well over one million cans by the time the fourth quarter begins this year.
By David MacDonald I f you’re a regular Spotlight on Business reader, you know I’m a numbers guy. Nothing gets the imagination going like a good stat or figure. That’s why I had to press Nicole to find out just what getting to the million cans mark will look like day-to- day in 2018. “Once we’re up and running, we can package up to 10 hec- tolitres per hour and up to 75 hectolitres per day,” she told me without skipping a beat. For you readers in the land of the free and the home of the brave that’s a daily output of over 1981 gallons or 15000 cans. Nicole’s confidence in hitting the million-mark by Septem- ber has a lot to do with Northern Canning’s primary clien- tele: Southern Ontario’s craft beer industry. There are cur- rently 68 small, independent breweries in Ontario with the lion’s share of the craft beer flowing from the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) just an hour south of Northern Canning’s home base in Bolton. “The craft beer and other craft beverage industries are mainly made-up of independently owned and operated businesses and this is something we wanted to be a part of,” Nicole explained. “Working alongside other local- ly-owned businesses gives us a chance to really help, to really be a part of their business and make a difference. We get to know our client’s needs and we get to be a part of their growth and success. To us, that means everything. When they grow, so do we. There are a lot of reasons to be a proud independent owner. There is a true beauty in producing and living out your dream, but to be honest one of main reasons for us would be that we get to be present – both for ourselves and our customers. Every client we work with is in a different stage, comes from a different back- ground, has different goals and dreams for their business. To say it’s important to be present would be an understate- ment. It is our entire mission.” “To us, that means everything. When they grow, so do we.” “We initially launched the company based on the craft beer industry’s growing demand for getting their product into a can,” she continued. “This is partly due to the positive impact on the environment. Seventy-five percent of cans ever manufactured are still in circulation today and they contain three times the recycled content of glass bottles. The next thing brewers consider is the business side of going with cans. Cans are 15 times lighter than glass bottles and they save you on shipping. It also keeps your beer fresher because aluminum keeps out UV rays and oxygen.” But no one ever said mobile canning was easy, Nicole explained. “It’s extremely fun at times of course, but when our crew is out there battling with the trials and tribulations of being mobile it can be another story.”
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