TORONTO — Craft-brewer Mill Street Brewery has officially joined the Labatt family. The Toronto-based brewery was acquired by the Anheuser-Busch InBev-owned behemoth for an undisclosed amount.
Labatt will invest $10 million to expand Mill Street’s production facilities in Toronto. Mill Street’s brewmaster Joel Manning will stay with the company as part of the deal. Manning joined Mill Street in 2005.
The deal also meant Mill Street lost its membership to the Ontario Craft Brewers Association. “It’s always good news when one of the largest brewers in the world buys one of your members,” says John Hay, president, Ontario Craft Brewers. “It means we have created a winning formula, which the larger brewers clearly cannot create in-house and must go outside to buy. The other good news is that when Molson bought Creemore, it triggered a real growth spurt of new breweries in Ontario because people recognized the excitement and potential of craft brewing. The industry grew from about 30 operating brewers to approximately 150 within five or six years. We continue to be very excited about the future.”
