DARTMOUTH, NS – Sapporo International, the parent company of Sleeman Breweries, has announced plans to put its Dartmouth, N.S. brewing facility up for sale as part of a strategy to optimize its North American operations.
Known as Maritime Brewing before being bought by Sleeman in 2000 – and subsequently taken over by Sapporo as part of the Japanese company’s purchase of Sleeman in 2006 – the facility has 32 employees and currently produces less than 2 percent of Sapporo’s annual volume in North America.
Sleeman is in discussions with several interested buyers who intend to keep the facility operational as a brewery, retaining some or all of the current employees. However, if a deal is not confirmed by July, the brewery will be closed.
Production volume from the Dartmouth plant will be shifted to the main Sleeman facility in Guelph, which will be gaining more capacity due to another move that will see the production of the majority of Sapporo being brewed for the American market shifted to a third party brewer in the U.S..