New Belgium rolls out expansion plans

FORT COLLINS – Expansion is becoming old hat at New Belgium.

The Fort Collins brewery, already one of the nation’s top 20 brewers, has confirmed plans to add a 60,000-square-foot packaging and warehouse facility.

Scheduled for completion in early 2007, the addition would double New Belgium’s existing 425,000-barrel brewing capacity to 850,000 barrels.

In sheer plant size, the addition represents a 60 percent expansion for the 10-year-old facility at 500 Linden St., which now covers 100,000 square feet.

“We’re looking to break ground in the spring of 2006,´ said Bryan Simpson, a company spokesman. “We’re looking to have it operational in the spring of 2007.”

The upcoming expansion would be the fourth for New Belgium since moving into the brewery in 1995. Previous additions were completed in 1997, 2001 and 2003 – the latter being a new brew house.

New Belgium is also working on a new wastewater treatment plant on the grounds, located a short distance north of downtown Fort Collins near the Cache la Poudre River.

The contract for the latest expansion has been granted to Swinerton Builders of Denver. The addition will house the company’s bottling line, as well as warehouse space and offices. The existing space devoted to bottling and warehouse will be converted to brewing.

Much of New Belgium’s growth is fueled by the demand for its flagship Fat Tire Ale. The company is now distributing in 15 states, and recently entered the potentially lucrative Southern California market.

In the latest industry assessment from the Brewers Association, an industry trade organization, New Belgium ranked fourth in production among the nation’s craft brewers – a craft brewery is defined as one that make all-malt beers. Among all breweries, New Belgium was No. 13.

Of the top 10 craft breweries in the country, New Belgium is the only one to grow at a double-digit rate over the last six years, the Brewers Association said.

The company’s recent growth figures underline New Belgium’s need for more brewing capacity.

Between 1999 and 2004, production for the company more than doubled from 150,000 barrels to 331,500. Last year’s total accounted for roughly 17 percent growth. By comparison, the craft-brewing sector grew by 7 percent in 2004. This year New Belgium expects to produce 365,000 barrels, representing 10 percent growth.

At a10 percent growth rate, the existing 425,000-barrel capacity would be maximized by the time the expansion is complete. The 850,000-barrel capacity would “hold us for a long time,” Simpson said.

In the meantime, New Belgium faces the enviable situation of trying to control its growth.

“There are wholesalers in markets that are just clamoring,´ said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. “They’re asking, ‘When are we going to get Fat Tire?’ New Belgium is definitely a wanted property on ever tier of the beer industry.”

New Belgium’s sales success should be attributed to many factors, including the fact the beer just tastes good, Gatza said.

“They’ve been the champion brewery at the Great American Beer Festival at least two times for breweries of their size,” Gartza said.

Gatza also credits the company’s attention to detail when it enters new markets.

“When they go into a market, they go in deeply into that market,” Gatza said. “They don’t just try to expand into all 50 states. Instead, they spend serious energy focused on getting into every possible restaurant and distributor and retailer that they can. As a result it’s allowed them to show such huge growth, even though they are not in that many states.”

Considering there are still 35 states to approach, Gatza said, “They can grow (even more) when they decide they want to, and when they decide they’re ready to.”

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