Innovation

The first UN development goal which Royal City aims to target is “no poverty”. The way they go about this on a local basis is by paying their servers a “living wage” instead of the legislated minimum wage or the even lower serving wage. Bateman expressed how important it was for him to ensure that his servers were comfortable and content while at work and this is a great program to make this the case. Also, this progressive approach reduces turnover by almost 100% and is also a great way to raise employee morale.

Secondly, Royal City aims to
incorporate “sustainable cities and communities” into its business model. Royal
City does this by partnering very closely with many charitable organizations
within the community with the hopes of promotion and good service. By making
these close collections the brewery can feel directly involved in the
philanthropic and positive work being done in the community. Bateman stressed
the importance of these connections during the interview stating that Royal
City takes a great deal of pride in these partnerships and always aims to see a
progressive and sustainable effort.

Thirdly, Royal City engages in many practices which aid in conquering the goal of “responsible consumption and production”. The first way in which they do this is by donating used wheat to local farmers. This is a great way to reduce waste and to also boost the local economy. Royal City truly emphasizes locality and this is a great example of that. Also, Royal City utilizes and extremely high tech brewing system which reduces waste and extra labour costs due to manual malfunctions.

Inspiration

The idea originally came about when these two friends, Bateman and Fryer, wanted to make a successful local brewery to their liking. They wanted to make a brewery that was socially responsible to the locals of Guelph and would eventually expand into greater markets. This is when they created Royal City Brewing Co.

The motivation for this innovation was to create a brewery that was unique, socially responsible, and gave back to the community. “Many of our products are named after Guelph landmarks, different names of people, and this is to keep it local and loyal to this city.”- Bateman. The purpose was to make a beer that was strongly loved by the people of Guelph, keeping a strong customer loyalty in the city while still expanding into other markets. Their beers are now sold in many restaurants and in the LCBO. Royal City Co. has many unique types of beers and constantly gives back to the community by participating and collaborating with many charities around the city of Guelph. A more direct way that Royal City Co. gives back to the community is by paying their staff well over minimum wage. “We take out extra money and try to invest it into our staff, or the people of Guelph. We pay our servers well over minimum wage, about 15$/hr and we invest in many charity events for the community.”- Bateman. Clearly, the biggest motivations for the innovation was to be unique, socially responsible, and give back to the community.

Overall impact

Royal City’s innovation of keeping their business local and giving back to the community is a sustainable, long-term solution to keep profits steady while satisfying the triple bottom line. From the resource efficient production system, to selling and hiring locally, and even the name all point to a company that can grab a sizeable share of the craft beer market in Guelph while positively impacting the business, society and environment.

Russell Bateman and Cam Fryer implemented a business model during their company’s inception in 2013 that focused on strengthening Royal City’s bond with the local community, rather than expanding their business to a more regional level. They took this approach because they are Guelph residents and wanted to give back to the community. Fast forward to 2018, and their philosophy has been largely successful. Royal City experiences steady sales from local residents and restaurants that are eager to purchase from a company that is so embedded in the local community, its name stems from the town’s nickname. Partnering with local charities and providing their employees with fair compensation boosts morale across the community, and leads a high level of job satisfaction within employees. A sophisticated production system helps Royal City push the industry standard on water sustainability and excess runoff prevention. Offering the excess spent grain to local farmers is both a societal and environmental impact, and just another example of the benefits of this innovation.

Royal City has become a local favourite within the community and it is not hard to see why. By sticking to its roots and developing a strong relationship within the community, the company has been able to stake their claim in the local craft beer industry, and should continue to serve the residents of Guelph, while experiencing steady profits throughout the years.

Business benefit

Royal City’s innovation of building a unique and socially responsible brewery in a competitive industry definitely had many benefits in regard to the business itself. One of the largest benefits for the firm is there are little to zero advertising costs needed to promote their product. As a solely Guelph based brewery, their name is promoted through word-of-mouth, leaving them extra capital to focus more on the brewing of new products constantly, as Royal City created a new beer every week for the month of January 2018. Another benefit of their Guelph based brewery is that their products will be supported and sold in many local restaurants and bars, such as Guelph based The Keg. This again allows Royal City to bring in extra capital to master their craft.

Social and environmental benefit

Royal City’s socially responsible brewery also has generated many societal and environmental benefits along with their personal business benefits. Royal City has collaborated with Guelph based charities and organizations, such as the Guelph Pipe Band and Black History Month events, by creating and providing beverages to be sold at in the community events. They have also named many new crafts of beer after different Guelph landmarks, which can give a type of free promotion to the community by establishing the names of these landmarks in the minds of Royal City consumers. Royal City also uses a very high-tech system, allowing them to optimize organization and efficiency in their company, while also reducing as much unneeded waste as possible. The largest societal/environmental benefit however is the fact that as Guelph based brewery, Guelph residents love to support local, which immediately establishes a very strong consumer base and relationship. This strong relationship allows Royal City to be involved with the city of Guelph as much as possible, while also bringing in enough capital to keep their business successful and efficient.

Interview

Russell Bateman, Co-founder