The Bar Towel

http://www.thestar.com/business/article ... to-ont-que

HALIFAX — Labatt Breweries of Canada is reducing the size of its unionized workforce at its plant in Halifax as it shifts some of its production of the Keith’s brand to breweries in Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.

Company spokesman Wade Keller confirmed that some of the workers losing their jobs are eligible for retirement.

He said the company is shifting production to meet market demand, particularly in Ontario and Quebec.

“We see a real opportunity to grow the Keith’s brand in those markets,” Keller said.

“It simply makes a great deal of sense to brew the beer where consumers live ... instead of shipping it in large volumes across the country.”

Not that any "Keiths drinker" will notice the difference the water makes in the other brewing locales.

This was on the CBC radio news this morning, and its not going down too well in Nova Scotia. If I was with Garrison or Propeller right now I'd be making a strong push to present my company as a proud Nova Scotian brewery, making all their beer in Nova Scotia.

Bobsy wrote:This was on the CBC radio news this morning, and its not going down too well in Nova Scotia. If I was with Garrison or Propeller right now I'd be making a strong push to present my company as a proud Nova Scotian brewery, making all their beer in Nova Scotia.

A LOT of the tweets/Facebook posts/rants I've seen from Keith's drinkers planning to boycott have specifically mentioned shifting their allegiance to Garrison and/or Propeller.

Hard to say how many of them will actually follow through, but in the short term at least, I imagine both breweries will see a nice spike in sales.

GregClow wrote:

Bobsy wrote:This was on the CBC radio news this morning, and its not going down too well in Nova Scotia. If I was with Garrison or Propeller right now I'd be making a strong push to present my company as a proud Nova Scotian brewery, making all their beer in Nova Scotia.

A LOT of the tweets/Facebook posts/rants I've seen from Keith's drinkers planning to boycott have specifically mentioned shifting their allegiance to Garrison and/or Propeller.

Hard to say how many of them will actually follow through, but in the short term at least, I imagine both breweries will see a nice spike in sales.

Same thing when Lakeport closed in Hamilton.

No real publicity about a boycott but I know many people who dont buy Labatts because of it and really havent seen much Labatts brew available in the bars and restaurants I go to.

Molson was smart when they closed the brewery in Regina - they started marketing their Old Style Pilsner as a "Saskatchewan Tradition." I'm guessing sales actually increased, it is more popular than ever here.

And to top off the stupidity of it all, Old Style Pilsner was created by Sicks Brewery in Lethbridge, ALBERTA. And they did this, despite the fact that they still produce the Bohemian brand that actually was created by the Sicks Brewery in Prince Albert, SASKATCHEWAN.

Sorta tells you a lot about these companies... and their target markets.

And for well over 10 years, Molson was producing the Calgary brand of beer exclusively at the Edmonton plant, which was exclusively sold in Saskatchewan. But of course they recently shut down the Edmonton plant, so now it is produced in Vancouver, which means Calgary beer now travels right through the city of Calgary, but is not sold there.

markaberrant wrote:Molson was smart when they closed the brewery in Regina - they started marketing their Old Style Pilsner as a "Saskatchewan Tradition." I'm guessing sales actually increased, it is more popular than ever here.

And to top off the stupidity of it all, Old Style Pilsner was created by Sicks Brewery in Lethbridge, ALBERTA. And they did this, despite the fact that they still produce the Bohemian brand that actually was created by the Sicks Brewery in Prince Albert, SASKATCHEWAN.

Sorta tells you a lot about these companies... and their target markets.

And for well over 10 years, Molson was producing the Calgary brand of beer exclusively at the Edmonton plant, which was exclusively sold in Saskatchewan. But of course they recently shut down the Edmonton plant, so now it is produced in Vancouver, which means Calgary beer now travels right through the city of Calgary, but is not sold there.

It says it all. Good summation Mark, This existed before high gravity brewing but is only re-enforced by todays bullshit. Eventually everyone will realize the diifference between craft and big is high gravity brewing and dilution-on-demand.

They were serving these mini lamb sliders with a chipotle aoli, which was really tasty. I noted picked eggs behind the bar.

SteelbackGuy wrote:They were serving these mini lamb sliders with a chipotle aoli, which was really tasty. I noted picked eggs behind the bar.

What?

As a Haligonian I'm not impresssed with this decision at all. I get the cost savings, but I don't get ripping the heart out of the brand. I believe it was in the bar towel's podcast about Creemore that this very issue of keith's having to be from Halifax is discussed. Please go take a listen, i's interesting to see the comparison made years before this happens.

SteelbackGuy wrote:They were serving these mini lamb sliders with a chipotle aoli, which was really tasty. I noted picked eggs behind the bar.

hahah....thats exactly how I feel