Canada’s Olympic-sized beer war
By Noah Davis • Feb 5th, 2010 • Category: Beer News, featured
The 2010 Olympics are nearly here, and Canadian brewers are prepared to expect a 25 percent increase in the amount of beer sold during the three-week period.
Miller-Coors, which boasts a 32 percent market share in British Columbia, has its plant running around the clock and its Vancouver brewery is producing more than 1.4 million cans, 900,000 bottles, and 2,000 50-litre kegs daily during the Olympics.
Little breweries, however, feel like they are being squeezed out. Molson Canadian, Coors Light, and Molson Export will be the only brands available at the majority of the 19 Olympic venues. The Campaign for Real Ale Vancouver, an organization dedicated to spreading the craft beer gospel, isn’t pleased. The Vancouver Olympics, clearly, are all about the Benjamins, not the beer.
