UK – UK-based brewer Hepworth & Company has announced a major investment program to increase production and improve sustainability with a new canning line at its brewery in Sussex.
The canning line will have an hourly capacity of 30,000 cans and will help Hepworth launch beers for the craft can sector later this year. It is scheduled to begin operations next month
The investment program will be led by brewery founder and Managing Director Andy Hepworth, who is stepping down from day-to-day operations to become Chairman, guiding new projects.
Ed Wray, who has been with Hepworth’s for three years as assistant head brewer, moves up to the head brewer role.
The canning line, which is scheduled to go live in August this year, will enable Hepworth’s to launch new beers specifically for the craft can sector later this year, complementing its existing range of cask, keg, and bottled beers.
They will also offer a quality canning service to other brewers, to make use of the significant capacity offered by the new line.
Andy Hepworth said: “Our limited experience of canning beers has been something of a mixed bag, which most brewers who have explored canning will relate to – so many brewers we have spoken to have a horror story to tell about outsourced canning.
“Given our many years of successful contract bottling, the logical move was to bring canning in-house, which gives us complete control over the quality of our canned beers and means we can go to our contract customers with a new service.
“The thirst for canned beers looks set to continue growing so we’re confident there will be demand from brewers who know Hepworth’s as a trusted contractor.”
In addition to the canning line, Hepworth is investing in a number of environmental measures to achieve its 85% carbon-neutral target by 2025.
One of these measures is a carbon dioxide reclaim project, which the company will implement later this year.
Andy Hepworth added: “Sustainability has driven the way we do business at Hepworth’s since the start. By any measure, we are now one of the most sustainable brewers in the UK, but we are continuing to look for new ways to reduce our carbon footprint even further.
“We are aiming for 85% carbon-neutral status by 2025 – 100% is simply not achievable within that time frame, but we will get there.”
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