Canada: Building of Diageo’s new distillery not yet started

The beer and spirits giant first announced its plans to build a new facility for the Crown Royal brand in March 2022.

At the time, the company said construction was due to start later that year and would be complete by 2025.

The site however shows no signs of building work having started, according to regional paper, The Sarnia Journal.

Speaking with the publication, the mayor of St. Clair, Jeff Agar, said Diageo executives had told him "three or four months ago" they had needed to draft a new site plan.

"I get asked all the time if they are still coming and they are 100% going to do what they said they are going to do," he said.

John Rodey, the chief administrative officer of St. Clair Township, told the paper officials had told him they intended to start construction in the first half of this year, starting with the building of a 100-square feet barrel storage unit.

He added that St. Clair had received a preliminary design of the site but a final draft had not yet been issued.

When asked by Just Drinks for details on the status of the project, a Diageo spokesperson said in a statement: “We continue to work in preparation for the construction phase of our new site. We look forward to sharing additional details about the project timeline at a later date.”

Just Drinks asked Rodey what factors were behind the wait for construction to start, he said: "I am not aware of the reasons for any delays."

Diageo has invested C$245m ($180m) in the new 400-acre facility in Ontario.

It is expected to feature a blending room and warehousing, as well as a distillery and will be run fully on renewable electricity. The site is expected to be Crown Royal's first carbon-neutral facility.