Article content continued

“The bigger picture is about protecting craft beer,” he said. Beauchesne said he wants his company to be an expansion model for other craft breweries to increase sales while also staying true to craft beer’s defining feature: independence from the Canadian beer monoliths – Labatt, Molson and Sleeman.

The company has stuck to its family-owned roots and remained fiercely independent despite multiple offers by investment companies to buy it, including one from overseas.

Beau’s started after Steve Beauchesne’s dad, Tim Beauchesne, suggested they start a brewery in his old textile factory 10 years ago. Beau’s has been running strong ever since.

“It’s almost disbelief to think that all of this has come about and I feel very lucky and very fortunate,” said Beauchesne. “Especially because everyday I get to work with my friends and family members and do what I love.”

Since 2006, Beau’s has taken on 160 employees, most of them family and friends.

“We’ve made nepotism a corporate value,” he said.

Beauchesne said that he expects to add about five more employees to the Beau’s family this year to help with the expansion. Even more people, he said will be hired across the country to help with distribution.

However, while their national expansion plans are a cause for internal celebration, Beauchesne said he expects the majority of the company’s growth to remain in familiar territory.

“Most projected financial growth (for the company) will be seen in Ontario and Quebec,” he said. “That will be about 35 per cent (of next year’s growth). We’ll only see about one to two per cent growth in the rest of the country.”

But, with the expansion, Beauchesne worries that the company’s tight-knit work culture could change.

“Culture is something I worry about more than anything else at the brewery,” he said. “It’s important for me to keep what makes us special alive.”

And though they’ll become a national brand, they won’t be reminiscent of the big corporate Canadian beer giants, he said.

“We’re not coming in with aspirations to wipe out all the craft brewers in each of those provinces (we’re expanding to),” he said. “In fact, we’re super excited that we’re going to get to go drink their beer.”