Washington Business Fall 2019 | Washington Business | Page 22

what’s working
You May Not Know Their Name,
but You’ve Tasted Their Work
How a Vancouver company uses innovation to improve the
environment and build workplace culture.
Niki Reading
Great Western Malting embarked on a challenge four years ago to improve on the ancient process of malting
barley for beer. The result led to breakthrough innovations in water conservation, and pride in the workplace.
At A Glance
Great Western Malting has been
producing malt in Vancouver since
the end of Prohibition.
About four years ago, the company
embarked on a challenge to
improve the malting process and
reduce water use.
As a result of its efforts, Great
Western Malting reduced water
usage by 98 percent, reduced
power usage by more than
35 percent and created the
Malt Innovation Center where
customers can experiment with
new varieties of beer.
In 2018, AWB awarded
Great Western Malting the
Manufacturing Award for
green manufacturing.
22 association of washington business
Andrew Gibb, plant manager at Great Western Malting in Vancouver, looks over a line of steeping
tanks where the barley kernels are moistened as part of the malting process. “After steeping, the
grain begins to come alive,” he said.
About four years ago, Mike O’Toole and his team at Great Western Malting in Vancouver
started brainstorming how to improve the 4,000-year-old process of malting barley for beer.
Those conversations sparked innovation with impact: A company that’s been
producing malt since the end of Prohibition reduced water usage by 98 percent, reduced
power usage by more than 35 percent, and created the Malt Innovation Center, where
customers can tinker with experimental beers.
“We’ve been on a journey as a company in terms of what we can do with investment
in process — to challenge how we do things,” says O’Toole, president of Great Western
Malting. The company was awarded the 2018 AWB Manufacturing Excellence Award
for green manufacturing.
Great Western Malting may not be a household name, but if you’ve had a Pacific
Northwest-made beer in your lifetime, you’ve tasted their work: The company has
been at the Port of Vancouver since the 1930s and supplies malt to thousands of craft
breweries in the region, from Deschutes and Widmer to startup garage brewers.