London Inc. Weekly

Weekly Regional Business Intelligence

Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc.

London Labatt brewery producing new collaborative ready-to-drink brand

Labatt Breweries of Canada this week announced the launch of a new brand in its pre-mixed cocktail portfolio this week – SVNS Hard 7UP, a play on a Seven & Seven. They’re partnering with PepsiCo Canada (makers of 7UP) on the product, which they’re rolling out in two flavours ― original and lemonade ― both being manufactured at the London brewery, as well as in Edmonton (a third malt-based version is being made exclusively in Quebec). “With the launch of SVNS Hard 7UP, we’re excited to be disrupting the soda and seltzer category with a net-new brand entering the space, leveraging a recognizable flavour consumers know and love,” said Mike D’Agostini, director of Labatt’s Beyond Beer division. The drinks are starting to roll out across Canada now but expect to see a significant marketing push as the warmer weather ramps up.

The upshot: It’s Labatt’s latest foray into the ready-to-drink (RTD) market, which these days is blowing beer out of the water as far as market growth is concerned. The North American RTD market has grown by 104 per cent over the past two years, and that has also given non-alc producers like PepsiCo a convenient way to slide into the alcohol market via branding partnerships like this. “Consumer demand for premium RTD products is undeniable,” said D’Agostini. “Innovating to meet Canadians’ preferences is both a priority, but also an exciting growth opportunity for the Labatt business.”

Vote here: Yahoo Finance | Toronto Sun

Believe it or not, transit between London and St. Thomas starts next month

At long last, it looks like London and St. Thomas are getting a public transit link. St. Thomas mayor Joe Preston announced the route this week, which is being run by Middlesex County Connect and will operate as a two-year pilot project. The route will have two morning and two afternoon runs (starting and ending in Dorchester with three stops in both London and St. Thomas) and will operate every day of the week. Transit advocates are calling it a huge win for the district. “It’s amazing news for the region as a whole,” said former Thames Centre councillor Kelly Elliott. “The mayors of London and St. Thomas, over the past 10 years, have been talking about putting a bus route together to connect the two cities and now it’s Middlesex County that’s stepping in to do that.” The buses will be operated by Voyago, which had approached Preston last summer about taking on the service.

The upshot: To say it’s been a long time coming would be an understatement, with various projects proposed, cancelled and reproposed over the years. It is also part of the answer to a big question around how the workforce ― expected to grow a whole lot when the new Volkswagen-backed PowerCo EV battery plant opens up ―will access the jobs. The question now is whether it will catch on. Middlesex County Connect has been one of the more successful regional transit operators, running mini-buses between London, Woodstock and Lucan. Its community transportation manager Anum Maqsood told the CBC that “this new route underscores our commitment to promoting connectivity and convenience, marking a significant milestone in our continuous efforts to improve regional connectivity and accessibility for our residents.”

Read more: St. Thomas Today | CBC London

BTRMLK opens second location at West 5

The wildly popular BTRMLK fried chicken restaurant has opened its second location, this one in the west end at Sifton’s West 5 development at 1305 Riverbend Road. The new location is much bigger than the original, primarily due to the addition of dine-in space, something the original Oxford Street and Wharncliffe Road unit doesn’t have. “We’re ready to expand,” co-owner Shad Haidar told London Inc. last year, ahead of the opening while work was ongoing at the new spot. His business partner and wife, Monia Elhayek, told the Free Press this week that the addition of dine-in space is something customers had been asking for. “Fried food doesn’t always travel that well, so people can eat right there.”

The upshot: BTRMLK has been one of the stars of the post-Covid food scene in London, having opened first as a viral pop-up during the take-out boom of lockdown, and over the next year or two leveraging that into a standalone unit and a tidy little enterprise. Haidar told the Free Press the couple selected West Five as their second location because of the area’s growth and higher-end demographics, something they believe aligns with their brand. Further expansion is the obvious next step, be it another operator-owned unit or a franchise model. “We’d eventually like to expand outside of London. We don’t know where yet,” said Haidar. “If things keep progressing as they have been that’s something we’ll definitely look into.”

Read more: London Inc. | London Free Press

From the magazine: Sweet returns

The Crinklaw family has been making syrup in one form or another since 1832, and Jennifer and Reid Crinklaw are the seventh generation to live and work on the farm, located on Westminster Road just off the 402.

Read more: London Inc.

London failed to meet 2023 housing targets, missing out on provincial cash

London fell short of its 2023 homebuilding targets, with only 1,804 housing starts last year ― just 52 per cent of its provincially outlined target of 3,447. Mike Wallace, executive director of the London Development Insitute, put it down to the combination of high interest rates, homebuyers staying on the sidelines and a general building market downturn. Bad news? Perhaps, but Mayor Josh Morgan told the Free Press this week that some of it had to do with how the numbers were counted. “There’s never been more activity than at this time,” he said. “Yet because of where…the yardsticks are dropped, we have many units that are either already counted in previous years or not yet counted.”

The upshot: London is not alone here ― roughly half of all Ontario cities missed their targets as market conditions took a bite out of housing starts. But missing the target will mean that London also misses out on provincial cash, whereas Toronto ― which did hit its target last year ― was given $114 million from the province last month. “We did not qualify for the Building Faster Fund,” Morgan told CTV. “What we will need from the province is support to create the housing-enabling infrastructure that is required.” There’s some good news on that front ― MPP Rob Flack said that cities that missed their targets will be able to apply to access additional funding from the province in the near future.

Read more: London Free Press | CTV News London

Now for the good housing news...

With all that said, the good news is that London is off to a good start to 2024 as far as homebuilding is concerned. On the one hand, there’s the rental market, which has more than 1,000 new units expected to hit the market soon, according to data from some of the larger developers in the region. A smattering of 60- to 100-unit projects, including Spektra at West 5 and a Southside project on Southdale Road, expect to start leasing for October. Old Oak Group’s 250-unit Centro development at Talbot and Fullarton is expecting to lease starting in November, adding 400 more units in the next two years. There’s good news if you zoom out to the broader homebuilding market as well. City hall has issued 490 permits this year for a total of 836 housing units, a tidy 351 per cent increase over this time last year. According to city figures, there are a total of 7,100 units under construction right now, which will hit the market over the next few years. So, while last year’s targets were missed, the numbers are expected to improve moving forward.

The upshot: All of this data, taken together, gives a lot of reason to be optimistic about where London stands in the housing battle. Since the start of Morgan’s term, housing activity has had sustained momentum and, while there’s been a few flashes of contentious nimbyism here and there, it really seems that council and developers are broadly rowing in the same direction. What London, like most cities in Ontario, is asking for is some stability on the provincial funding front. “We’re seeing now a reflection of what’s happening in business and what we’ve been doing at planning ― approving density,” Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis told the Free Press. “We’re now at a point where construction is flowing from work that started last year.”