Some Leading Ladies of Canada Malting
Recently, our team at Cryer Malt sat down with some of the past and current female staff at Canada Malting Company to chat about how they found themselves working in the malting & beer industry and what they love about their job.
The women consist of Camille Allonneau (Canadian Prairies Sales Manager), Taylor Stigings (Elevator Coordinator), & Lori Reams (Production Supervisor & currently working at Barrett Burston Malting’s Geelong site), all women playing a vital role in the malting process to get Canada Malting’s premium malt into the brewery both in Canada but also in the Antipodes. They also discuss the different pathways available for those who are keen to start a career in the malting industry.
Camille Allonneau (Prairies Sales Manager)
Hailing from the bakery industry in France, Camille has been working as a Territory Manager at Country Malt Group for a year and a half. She looks after customers in the Canadian Prairies (Alberta, Saskatchewan & Manitoba) and is based at the Canada Malting Company malthouse in Calgary, AB.
What inspired you to begin a career in the malting/brewing industry?
Camille: I have always enjoyed drinking craft beer and used to spend all my Saturday evenings at a nice brewpub in my hometown Chartres, in France. I was working in the bakery industry at the time, and already selling malts to bakers -transitioning from bakery to brewing seemed like a natural step!
What do you love about your job?
Camille: To me, meeting new people and discussing with a variety of persons is the best part of working in Sales. It’s a great opportunity to exchange experiences and tips and to broaden your horizons. Traveling in the Canadian Prairies to visit breweries is also an amazing experience.
What are the pathways you can take to start working in the malting industry? Are there any courses or educational opportunities that you can suggest for inspiring brewers or maltsters?
Camille: This year I took the Foundations in Brewing & Packaging online course at the Institute of Brewing & Distilling: I found it super useful to go through brewing basics and it does contain a whole section on the basic principles of malting. If you’re looking to develop your knowledge of both brewing and malting, I highly recommend this course.
What advice would you offer for women who wish to start a career in the malting or beer industry?
Camille: I would advise women to search for other women brewers/maltsters/cicerone around them and to turn to women professional organizations -such as the Pink Boots- to get professional support. The brewing industry is a tight community, but support between women inside this industry is even stronger! I would also recommend not to be too intimidated by the almost all-men environment in breweries and malthouses: I’ve never felt left behind during my career -even surrounded by men-and I’ve always found everyone helpful in answering my questions and giving advice.
How do you think that the beer industry has changed in the past 10 years to encourage more females to get involved?
Camille: I haven’t been in the industry for long, but my feeling is that women are getting more and more involved and educated on beer and are now taking power by themselves. I’ve several examples of women head brewers here in Calgary, as well as ladies launching their beer brand and/or studying to become Master Cicerone. There is a place for women in the brewing industry, we just have to dare take it!
What’s your favourite malt at CMC?
Camille: My favourite one is the CMC Pilsen malt because it’s extremely clean in both flavour and aroma: it makes a perfect base and backbone for a wide array of beers (IPAs, lagers…) with a more complex taste than regular 2-Row.
What’s your favourite beer style at the moment?
Camille: Wintertime in the Prairies means switching back to darker and stronger beers! I enjoy warming up after hiking in the snow with a Baltic porter or a Triple ale.
Taylor Stigings (Elevator Coordinator)
Taylor has been working with Canada Malting since January 2017. Her role in the company is Elevator Coordinator, as well as completing the admin work for the two Niobe Elevators and the go-to for all other admin within the company if they run into any issues. She also still works on the family farm and grows premium barley!
What do you love about your job?
Taylor: The people within the company are great and makes coming to work so enjoyable. The friendships I have with all the producers at the Niobe Elevator, along with the projects and discussions I have got to be involved in with the company.
What are the best growing regions in Canada? What is it about Canadian barley growing regions which makes them so well-suited to barley growing?
Taylor: The best growing regions in Canada would have to be the prairie provinces specifically Central Alberta. I think what makes these regions so well-suited for barley growing in the soil and weather conditions we see throughout the summers and fall.
How do you feel CMC supports local Canadian barley growers?
Taylor: CMC supports the local barley growers by offering yearly production contracts to them first. CMC is also very good about trying to take any overage the producers may have of barley grown in the year. In times before COVID, each elevator hosted a yearly producer appreciation BBQ.
What inspired you to begin a career in the malting industry (on the grain side)?
Taylor: I grew up and still live on the family farm and have bought into it. Before joining CMC, I was working at an accountant handling all the agriculture clients and when my current job came up I jumped at the chance for the change. I HAVE to say it’s been the best thing for my career in Agriculture.
What are the pathways you can take to start working in the malting or agricultural industry? What advice would you offer to young women who want to start a career in malting or agriculture?
Taylor: The pathways you can take to start working in the Agriculture industry is attending Agriculture schools, knowing people within the Agriculture industry and just apply for anything you see and work your way up.
The advice I would give is to talk to people within the Agriculture industry in fields you are interested in, and you may have to start at the bottom but the experience you will gain will help you as you move to different positions and the Agriculture industry is ever-changing so there will be ample opportunities come your way.
What’s your favourite beer style at the moment?
Taylor: I’m partial to the occasional Wheat Beer!
Lori Reams (Production Supervisor)
Currently working at Barrett Burston Malting’s Geelong site as a Production Manager, Lori started with Canada Malting Company in March 2015 as part of the Maltster Trainee program for 6 months. She then came back to work for CMC in 2017 as a Production Supervisor at the Calgary plant for 18 months. As a production supervisor, she looked after the day to day production of base and specialty malts.
What inspired you to begin a career in the malting/brewing industry?
Lori: I basically stumbled upon malting back in 2013 when I became a lab technician for Great Western Malting in Vancouver Washington. Once I started working in malting, I was inspired by the passion of the people within the industry. I’ve met many passionate brewers and maltsters from all over the world during my time in malting.
What do you love about your job?
Lori: I really enjoy the challenge of working in malt production. Unlike a lot of production environments, there isn’t a set recipe for making malt. Each day there are changing conditions that require tweaks to the process, it’s never boring!
What are the pathways you can take to start working in the malting industry? Are there any courses or educational opportunities that you can suggest for inspiring brewers or maltsters?
Lori: There really isn’t a malting program available for university students. The best path would be through a brewing program. There are some certifications available through the MAGB and I would also suggest the MBAA Brewing and Malting Science Course. I made many valuable contacts in the industry attending this course.
What advice would you offer for women who wish to start a career in the malting or beer industry?
Lori: The malting industry has a long way to go for women in production. Take advantage of your resources within Pink Boots!
How do you think that the beer industry has changed in the past 10 years to encourage more females to get involved?
Lori: I have been encouraged to get involved with other women within the industry through Pink Boots.
What’s your favourite malt at CMC?
Lori: Munich Malt! It tastes so good fresh out of the kiln.
What’s your favourite beer style at the moment?
Lori: I always go for an XPA on a hot day.
If you would like to further support female education and opportunities in the brewing industry, make sure to place a pre-order for the 4th Annual Pink Boots Blend. You can place a pre-order through your local Country Malt Group Sales Manager. Learn more about the Pink Boots Blend here.
COVID-19 Communication
Canada Malting is committed to the health and safety of our customers and our team. Given the evolving global COVID-19 situation, we would like to assure our customers that we are taking all possible steps to provide uninterrupted supply and excellent service to our customers. Canada Malting supports and adheres to all guidelines established by the World Health Organization, as well as our local and federal government. We are monitoring these guidelines daily and keeping our staff members informed.
Canada Malting operates 3 Malthouses and 9 Country Elevators across Canada and, as such, we are well-prepared to support our customers during this difficult time. We are working closely with our domestic and international partners to keep our sites well stocked with the products that our customers need.
Our transportation partners continue to follow all our Transportation, Workplace Health & Safety, and Food Safety standards. We are not currently experiencing service issues with freight operators. With the changing nature of the situation, we suggest carrying additional safety stock at your facility. We also recommend that customers provide additional lead time for all malt orders to ensure we can prioritize with our transportation providers to meet your delivery requirements.
Please note that to reduce risks for our people and our customers, we have suspended visits to our Malthouses and Country Elevators and interactions with our plant and elevator personnel are restricted. Additionally, business travel and customer visits have been significantly limited or fully cancelled. We have increased sanitation at our sites and implemented a number of steps to minimize risk. We continue to monitor the situation daily.
We understand that you may have further questions or concerns. If this is the case, please reach out to your local Canada Malting representative for more information.
We will continue to update this page with news regarding our business and operations as the COVID-19 situation evolves.
Canada Malting at the 2019 MBAA
This conference focuses on new research, communications, and innovations coming from the brewing industry and associated industries. The 3-day conference showcased plenary, special, and technical sessions, posters, and workshops. Canada Malting presented the following three, unique, peer-reviewed scientific posters and panel discussion:
The Ups and Downs of Fermentability
Richard W. Joy1, Mawill Rodriguez1, Martha Izydorczyk2, Yueshu Li3, Eric Perry1, Jodi Wong1, Effendi Daud1, Ashley Parkes1, Kyle Po1, and Murphy Ng1
Showcasing fermentation studies across the GrainCorp, North American malt plants, this poster focused particularly on processing changes effecting fermentability. Three case studies illustrated the differences in processing that improved or degraded fermentability in the brewery. The importance of this presentation was to demonstrate that aeration in the steeping process is highly correlated, not only to well-modified malt but also intricately linked to good fermentation characteristics in the brewery.
In January of 2020, it was officially announced by the MBAA that this poster was the recipient of the 2019 Best Poster Award.
Using Measurement Uncertainty to Improve Quality of Test Results
Mawill Rodriguez1, Jodi Wong1, Eric Perry1, and Richard W. Joy1
This work was a continuation of the study of measurement uncertainty in lab testing. We continued to build over previous work and analyzed all the sources of error affecting the most important lab methods. With that information, we’re able to make improvements to our processes that increase the reliability of the lab results. The importance of this presentation was to provide an understanding of all the characteristics of the measurement of this test and to provide a framework for error determination in additional tests with the eventual view that these will be part of the lab ISO certification process.
Food Safety in the Malting Industry
Janice A. Landry1, Richard W. Joy1, and Mawill Rodriguez1
This presentation provides cutting edge information on food safety programs that are ongoing in GrainCorp malt, North America. The presentation touches upon how government involvement and regulations drive food safety programs and the implications from there as customer expectations continuously grow. Topics touched on included: risk analysis, HACCP, pre-requisite programs, traceability, and certifications. Lastly, there are 2 case studies presented to illustrate the malting, food safety program in real-time.
Where does your malt come from?
Richard W. Joy1
Providing a 10,000-foot view of where malt comes from, this presentation started with the breeding process to the commercial lifetime (hence, the variety lifetime, from birth to death). Further, there was an in-depth review of the current and new Canadian 2-row malting varieties, their agronomics, disease resistance, and commercial malting performance. The talk also included the multiple interactions of how a new variety gains industry and customer acceptance.
*(1)Canada Malting Co. Limited, Calgary, AB, Canada, (2)Canadian Grain Commission, Winnipeg, MB, Canada, (3)Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Grand Opening of the Calgary Packaging Facility
The facility is tied into the Calgary plant bulk storage and handling system and allows for efficient and gentle handling of grain throughout the whole packaging process.
This high capacity automated packaging line will fill and palletize 25 kg bags, as well as 1 MT totes. Equipped with an auto-sampling integrated metal detector and a weight check, the facility can maintain high-quality standards.
We are excited to open this new packaging facility on our Calgary malt plant site as part of our continuous improvement philosophy. This facility allows us to stage shipments to the Country Malt Group distribution and their warehousing network.
Alberta Blockchain Summit: Growing Beyond Borders: Blockchain, AG and Trade
The panel discussed many topics including the advantages, trade issues, regulatory hurdles, and security of the blockchain technologies.
Joe Dingley Memorial Scholarship Award
In November of 2018, Canada Malting lost a close colleague and friend, Joe Dingley. Joe was with us for over 16 years and served as our Elevator Manager at Lyalta, Alberta. He was a dedicated employee who touched many peoples’ hearts with his compassion and empathy for others.
At the Calgary Christmas Party in 2018 we conducted a fundraiser that raised $4,000 including a matching amount from Canada Malting! In addition, the Calgary office sponsored a weight loss challenge that raised an additional $520. With this money, we decided we wanted to do something to celebrate Joe’s memory. As a result, Canada Malting created the Joe Dingley Memorial Scholarship Award!
We are pleased to announce that Carson Laschowski is the winner of the Joe Dingley Memorial Scholarship Award! Carson is the daughter of Calgary Barley Operator Marvin Laschowski. She is currently pursuing a Bachelors of Nursing at Mount Royal University. The committee was impressed with Carson’s application and her perseverance and persistence in the face of numerous challenges. She has also been nominated for the Tourism Calgary White Hat Award several times. We believe Carson to be an exceptional individual who is very deserving of this recognition.
2019 CMC Malting Course
This yearly course allows Canada Malting to bring brewers, distillers and other industry people out to the barley fields, grain elevators, our malting plant and more to showcase all aspects of malting.
The first day of the course started with presentations on barley procurement, varieties and quality, we then headed out to visit local farm fields for lunch and a crop tour during their harvest time. From there we proceeded to a tour of our Niobe elevator to further highlight our barley procurement and selection within the local farm communities.
The second day focused on the malting process with presentations on practical malting, biochemistry of malt, malt analysis and brewery impact and finally food safety. Following the presentations participants went to the CMC Calgary plant for a tour of the entire facility to better highlight the processes from start to finish.
On the third day participants were back at the plant to tour our lab and the research and development sections of the company, followed by a brief presentation on malt handling in the brewery and sensory training.
Overall this week is a great learning opportunity and a fantastic ways to connect with industry members around North America.