Spirits giant Diageo announces first major closure amid cuts. Here’s where
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Diageo will close its Ontario bottling plant, impacting at least 160 workers.
- Bottling operations for Crown Royal will shift closer to U.S. consumers, likely Illinois.
- Job cuts follow Diageo’s $625M cost-saving plan, with earlier closures in Kentucky.
Global spirits giant Diageo has announced the first major closure since the company said earlier in August that it planned to cut jobs as part of efforts to save $625 million over the next three years.
The British-based parent of Bulleit bourbon, Guinness beer and Johnnie Walker Scotch on Thursday told workers at a Crown Royal bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ontario, the plant would be shutting down in February as part of an effort to “increase efficiency.” At least 160 workers will be impacted.
The plant’s union called the move “shocking and devastating,” and planned to fight to keep it open.
Diageo said bottling for the Canadian market and non-U.S. export market would stay in Canada, as well as luxury Crown Royal marks for the U.S. market.
On Friday, union president John D’Agnolo said they’d been told bottling will be moved, in part, to Illinois, where Diageo has a plant in Plainfield.
In a statement, the company said the move is not a reaction to the current trade environment.
“Diageo will maintain its significant footprint across Canada, including at our Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area and other bottling and distillation facilities in Gimli, Manitoba and Valleyfield, Quebec,” the statement read.
Crown Royal is a hugely popular brand, the fourth best-selling whisky globally in 2023, selling about 7.7 million cases worldwide, according to spirits industry publications. Crown Royal Blackberry was one of the brands responsible for the company’s growth last: Overall Diageo sales were up 1.7%, although profits were flat.
Sales of Bulleit were down last year 7.3%, the company reported Aug. 5.
Diageo did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether more closings or job cuts are planned in Kentucky. The company owns three distilleries here: two make Bulleit in Shelbyville and Lebanon, and the Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Shively is home to Blade & Bow.
Earlier this year, Diageo closed the bottling facility at its Stitzel-Weller Distillery in Shively, outside Louisville, consolidating operations with other Kentucky properties.
A spokesperson said in a statement at the time: “Over the next 2-3 years, we will also be shifting the majority of maturing and warehousing operations from Stitzel-Weller to Diageo’s other Kentucky facilities, in Shelbyville and Lebanon. We do not take these decisions lightly, and we recognize the impact on our employees. For those affected, we are providing support in the form of severance packages, outplacement assistance, and employee assistance resources, as well as information on open roles across our organization.”
Diageo said the company would be “evaluating our real estate strategy with this property at a later date.”
The Lebanon distillery also temporarily halted production through June 2025. Production has since resumed, according to the company.
