Labatt

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Labatt Brewing Company Ltd.

Labatt Brewing Company Ltd. is a Canadian beer company, founded by John Kinder Labatt in 1847 in London, Ontario. In 1995 it was purchased by Belgian brewer Interbrew, now known as InBev.

History

Labatt founded the company with the purchase of London's Simcoe Street brewery in partnership with Samuel Eccles. By 1853 Labatt had become the brewery's sole proprietor, and he later renamed it John Labatt's Brewery. With the completion of the Great Western Railway in the 1850s, Labatt's operations expanded to export beer to the rest of the country. By the early 20th century Labatt was a corporation, its shares distributed among John Labatt's seven daughters and two sons.

In 1915 Prohibition began in Canada when public bars were banned in Saskatchewan. A year later prohibition was instituted in Ontario as well, affecting all 64 breweries in the province. Although some provinces totally banned alcohol manufacture, some permitted production for export to the United States. Labatt survived by producing full strength beer for export south of the border and by introducing two "temperance ales" with less than two per cent alcohol for sale in Ontario. However, the Canadian beer industry suffered a second blow when Prohibition began in the U.S. in 1919. When Prohibition was repealed in Ontario in 1926, just 15 breweries remained and only Labatt retained its original management. This resulted in a strengthened industry position. In 1945 Labatt became a publicly traded company with the issuance of 900,000 shares.

In 1951 Labatt launched its Pilsener Lager; when it was introduced in Manitoba, the beer was nicknamed "Blue" for the colour of its label and the company's support of Winnipeg's Canadian Football League (CFL) franchise, the Blue Bombers. The nickname stuck and in 1979 Labatt Blue claimed top spot in the Canadian beer market. It lost this status in the late eighties to Molson Canadian, but over the next decade, periodically regained top spot as consumer preferences fluctuated. In 2004, Budweiser took the top spot, pushing Blue to third for the first time in twenty-five years.[1][2] However, Labatt Blue remains the most popular Canadian beer in the world based upon worldwide sales.

Labatt was also the majority owner of the [Toronto Blue Jays] from their inception in 1976 until September 1, 2000, when Rogers Communications purchased 80% ownership of the team.

Labatt's innovations include the introduction of the first twist-off cap on a refillable bottle (1984). In 1989, Labatt's hired Canadian model [Pamela Anderson] to become Labatt's Blue Zone Girl.

Today, Labatt is owned by the large Belgian brewer InBev.

Labatt is part-owner of Brewers Retail Inc., operator of The Beer Store retail chain, which--protected by legislation--has an over 90% market share of Ontario beer sales. [edit] --Mwvlyons 00:41, 26 September 2006 (EDT)