Canada: Labatt brewery to close one of its plants

Canadian brewer Labatt said on March, 30 it was closing its Lakeport Brewery facilities in Hamilton and shifting all production of Lakeport beer to its operations in London, Ont., effective April, 30, CTV communicated on the same day.

The closing will not affect the availability of Lakeport products in stores, Labatt said.

The move comes as Labatt tries to improve its operating efficiency for the buck-a-beer brand, and compete as other beer giants slash their prices.

“It is unfortunate that closing the Hamilton brewery is the only rational business decision available to us, however, we have determined that we will do everything we can for the employees,” spokesman Charlie Angelakos said in a release.

“Canada's beer market is intensely competitive and we need to continually seek the lowest possible overall, and brewery-specific, production costs,” he added.

31 March, 2010