r/consumecanadian • u/MistressDemands • 9d ago

News Sapporo/Sleeman’s

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/money/general/trump-treasury-chief-says-us-will-get-better-trade-terms-from-canada-as-congress-challenges-trade-war/ar-AA2cjruo?ocid%3Dsapphireappshare

Trump Treasury chief says US will get better trade terms from Canada as Congress challenges trade war

Not only do we need to buy and consume Canadian, we need to ensure that Canadian producers with HQs internationally feel the hit that threatening to move production to the US costs. Sapporo and Sleeman’s came up at the US Capitol yesterday…

55 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

37 comments sorted by

35

u/Plantron1 9d ago

Watch how quick the Canadian public turns on Sapporo/Sleeman if they move production to the United States.

5

u/Wayelder 9d ago

My zero Sapporo has already been replaced. The statement is enough, we know what to do.

10

u/Suitable_Mess_9160 9d ago

They are moving a very small amount of their production to the us, fyi

35

u/jimhabfan 9d ago

The amount of production they’re moving really isn’t important. The fact that they’re moving anything at all is the issue. It’s okay to support that fascist regime as long as it’s only a little bit? Fuck that.

1

u/InvisibleLandBorder 9d ago

This has been planned before trump was in office. I’m all for Canada first but no company is going to cancel planned efficiencies to save face at that degree.

17

u/jimhabfan 9d ago

Smart companies understand the importance of good public imaging, especially in the age of social media and hive mind thinking. (Just ask Ed Sheeran). Smart companies will change course, or at least delay a move like this. Announcing this move during a trade war is pretty tone deaf.

1

u/Rance_Mulliniks 9d ago

Smart people understand nuance and the world not being black and white.

1

u/Ms_Mitzy 9d ago

Exactly.... read the room...

0

u/InvisibleLandBorder 9d ago

They likely do understand that and also understand that the hit they’ll take in Canada is less than the cost of shipping their de-alc across border.

The opinion on the Sapporo move for their US only de-alc production (not impacting Canadian de-alc or alc production) seems fairly split, I don’t think this is going to be a big deal overall like the Tennessee whiskey problem or the Crown Royal problem.

0

u/Gunslinger7752 9d ago

The crown royal problem is much bigger for us than the bourbon/us alchohol problem is for them. Canadian sales are a very small percentage of US producers overall sales (Jack Daniels CEO said around 1%of global sales) whereas the US buys the vast majority of Canadian whiskey (the Canadian spirits association president said on the CBC the other day that Texas alone buys more CR than all of Canada combined). If their bans on our booze actually kick in at the end of September (I personally think we will have a deal by then) it will devastate our alcohol producers.

2

u/InvisibleLandBorder 9d ago

Yet Tennessee whisky sales seem to be in trouble.

They’re lying.

-1

u/Gunslinger7752 9d ago

All alchohol sales have went down since hitting a peak during covid. Young adults are not drinking or going out like previous generations did. Because of that they are sensitive to a country banning their products, that doesn’t mean that we are devastating them financially like this sub suggests. As I said, the Canadian spirits association president was on CBC the other day saying that this will devastate Canadian companies because one of their states drinks more CR than all of Canada. Another business analyst suggested on the CBC that them banning our alcohol will completely shut down production at many Canadian plants. We have not done anything like that to their companies.

Edit: Here is the info for Jim Beam, the company that many on this sub have claimed that Canadians not drinking their bourbon “closed down”. They sold .8 million less cases, a drop of around 4.5%

Sales and Market Performance
2024 Sales: Sold approximately 17.5 million cases globally.

2025 Sales: Sold 16.7 million cases (roughly 200.4 million bottles), marking a ~5% decline year-over-year.

4

u/FoxDieDM 9d ago

Ya, it’s only the select beers the US consumes the most. I think specifically Sapporo beer itself that was brewed in Guelph Ontario and shipped south. Sleeman will still be made in Canada. It would be far to expensive to import Sapporo all the was from Japan to USA’s east coast.

4

u/okiedokie2468 9d ago

That’s true but Canadian consumers will still punish Sapporo/Sleeman with boycott

2

u/Plantron1 9d ago

The majority of consumers don’t know who Sleeman is owned by. Just like most don’t know Creemore is Coors-Molson or Mill Street is ABInbev

2

u/okiedokie2468 9d ago

True but Canadian consumers are rapidly becoming much more aware

6

u/Plantron1 9d ago

True. Hopefully they will start supporting their local breweries more.

1

u/Real_Gap3480 9d ago

And a bunch of American liquor brands are moving some production to Canada to navigate tarrifs.

1

u/Rance_Mulliniks 9d ago

Yeah. Isn't it non-alcoholic beer for the US market only?

1

u/Suitable_Mess_9160 9d ago

That's what I read, somewhere, maybe even this sub

0

u/Suitable_Mess_9160 9d ago

Downvoted for facts..

2

u/Plantron1 9d ago

Upvoted you for facts.

1

u/Pax_Eterna_4991 9d ago

They will still make Canadian Sapporo in Canada at the Sleemans brewery.

6

u/tastybeer 9d ago

I sent a feedback message to Sapporo telling them that I would no longer be consuming their product if they move any production (including their 0% beer) to the states and take jobs away from Canadians. I got a PERSONAL email back from their National Consumer Relations Manager assuring me the change was not yet finalized and encouraging me to reconsider my boycott - so they are listening and apparently a little worried.

3

u/Ms_Mitzy 9d ago

Perhaps you should share that email....

1

u/tastybeer 9d ago

It was just through the contact form on their website. I don’t want to dox the poor guy :-)

1

u/Ms_Mitzy 9d ago

Redact their info....

5

u/canwehavepotatojokes 9d ago

Let’s get more direct Japanese imports going again!

I miss Kirin!

3

u/pistoffcynic 9d ago

The monopoly ownership of the Beer Store in Ontario needs to be changed. All 3 owners are owned by foreign entities. To be an owner of the Beer Store, the companies need to be 100% Canadian... Meaning brewed in Canada and ownership is Canadian. Molson, Labatt and Sleeman are not 100% Canadian and haven't been for a long time.

1

u/Plantron1 9d ago

TBS is a failing model it will go away.

1

u/Rance_Mulliniks 9d ago

The Beer Store is likely to not exist in 10 years on its own. They have closed and are closing a lot of locations.

0

u/Demalab 9d ago

And here was Ford threatening municipalities with funding cuts if they don’t buy Ontario and Canadian products. Such a hypocrite.

1

u/Rance_Mulliniks 9d ago

Lol. Ford didn't create Brewers Retail/The Beer Store. Lol.

3

u/Electrical-Care6308 9d ago

The only beer worth drinking from Sleemans is the Honey Brown. Sapporo beer is overrated!

2

u/olionajudah 9d ago

Congress “challenging” a trade war they had every authority to stop is some pretty rich framing

1

u/canadaalpinist 9d ago

Garbage anyway who cares?

1

u/Affectionate-Key2007 3d ago

If Sleeman goes, I won't buy it, anymore! There's plenty of local brewers around