BRASSERIE CASTELAIN concocts its beer from the Nord département with social and environmental values

Brasserie Castelain is an independent family company. There are few hierarchical levels, which encourages proximity management and easy communication between the departments and the management.

One important point in participatory management: each department participates in the development of the criteria that make up the profit-sharing contract, related to attendance time and not remuneration. For instance: any person working 1,500 hours/year, regardless of their remuneration, will have the same profit sharing. The profit-sharing indicators have been co-built with the employees.

Brasserie Castelain is the first brewery to produce, as of 1986, an organic beer in France. The “Jade” organic beer is made from hops and barley malts from organic farming. This beer is certified by ECOCERT. Despite a rough start on the market, “Jade” now represents 10% of the production in volume. In 2013, a new organic beer –“Jade ambrée”– has been created, and in May 2014, the brewery launches a new organic beer: the pomegranate-flavoured “Jade”.

Water management, selective sorting, waste traceability and energy saving. In 2009, Brasserie Castelain has invested one million euros to acquire a set of equipment to develop, for instance, the recovery and washing of glass bottles.

In 2013, the company has invested in a new brewhouse while maintaining the traditional manufacturing process by infusion. This new brewhouse offers greater stability and control of the manufacturing process, and improves the working conditions. The old brewhouse was very pleasant but inconvenient in terms of ergonomics. Many manual operations were to be done there (manual cleaning of the bottom of the tank for solids, e.g. spent grains1…). In the new brewhouse, these operations are automated.

Internal computer and Excel training has been provided to operators in order to accompany the implementation of packaging automation and the new brewhouse.