The democratically elected head of Ontario in Canada has threatened to remove Diageo’s Crown Royal whisky brand from the shelves of the province’s alcohol retail monopoly.
During a union rally over the weekend, Ontario Premier Doug Ford warned that the removal of the Canadian whisky from Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s stores would take effect if Diageo proceeds with the planned closure next year of its bottling facility in Amherstburg in the province. Two days later, Ford also suggested that Smirnoff could be next to face removal from LCBO outlets if Diageo does not reverse its decision.
“Those bottles of Crown Royal are coming off the LCBO shelves,” Ford (below) said on Saturday. “When the last person walks out through that door, we’re going to make sure LCBO takes off their brands because we need to stick together.”
On 6 October, Ford reiterated the threat: “Who in their right mind, any businessperson with half a brain, would go after their largest customer in North America?”
“We [LCBO] do over US$765m – more than any jurisdiction anywhere in the US or in Canada – and they want to close down a plant? Over what? $8m of wages they think they are going to save,” he said.
Diageo announced in August that it will shut the Amherstburg site in February as part of plans to streamline its North American supply chain. The London-heaadquartered group emphasised that production of Crown Royal will remain in Canada, where the brand has been mashed, distilled and aged since its launch in 1939.
Global Drinks Intel has contacted Diageo for comment on Ford’s plans.
Last month, interim CEO Nik Jhangiani said the group will look to reduce its historical over-reliance on a handful of brands and cut back on ineffective spending.
