The investment will modernize the Brown-Forman Cooperage, reduce operating costs, improve efficiency and allow continued production of high-quality barrels in Louisville.
Some 70 hourly positions, mostly in the Heading and Staving Departments, will be eliminated. The Cooperage will continue to employ about 205 persons.
“As the only distilling company to craft its own barrels, making this investment will help ensure the long-term viability of our Cooperage in Louisville, reduce injuries, and preserve our unique competitive advantage of barrel-making,” said Alex Alvarez, chief production officer, Brown-Forman.
“While the improvements will result in the loss of some hourly positions, we believe this will strengthen the long-term viability of the Cooperage in Louisville.”
Brown-Forman began bottling bourbon nearly 150 years ago and recognized the important role of the barrel and the impact wood has on bourbon. Based on this vision, Brown-Forman established its own cooperage in 1945, resulting in more than 70 years of raising barrels and honing the craft of using wood to impart unique flavor characteristics to bourbon.
Brown-Forman Cooperage produces more than 2,500 barrels a day. It also has a cooperage in Decatur, Ala., which makes barrels for Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey.