Canada: Sleeman Breweries Ltd. closes its Nova Scotia brewing facility

Sleeman Breweries Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary of Japan’s Sapporo Holdings, announced on November 28 that it has decided to close its Dartmouth N.S. brewing facility as of end of business on November 28, affecting 15 employees. The company made every effort to make the purchase of its Dartmouth facility attractive to potential buyers. While the company was optimistic it could sell it to another brewery operator, it has exhausted its options and could not come to terms with prospective bidders.

"We have been working for months on trying to maintain as many jobs as possible by selling the facility to a new brewery owner," says Pierre Ferland, National Vice President, Operations, Sleeman Breweries Ltd. "We want to thank our employees for their years of service to Sleeman Breweries and the patience and dedication they have shown as we tried to find a buyer. We're disappointed we couldn't find another owner and keep these jobs in Dartmouth."

Sleeman Breweries made the opportunity to purchase the facility as attractive as possible. Some of the measures the company took included a reduction in the workforce to accommodate a smaller operator, and offering to have over 350,000 cases of Sleeman products produced annually in the facility until the new brewer had their own product established. "This facility was too big for the small operators and too small for the large ones," added Ferland.

While the Sleeman brewery will be closing, the company's product will continue to be available across the province at Nova Scotia's bars, restaurants and retailers.

Sleeman Breweries Ltd. is the third largest brewing company nation-wide. In 2006, Sleeman Breweries Limited was acquired by Sapporo Holdings Limited of Japan. The company markets and/or distributes world class imported products such as Guinness, Sol, Dos Equis and Tecate and is supported by 1,000 employees.

29 November, 2013