New Beer Store Board Takes Shape

Number of Beer Store owners grows to 25 Ontario-based brewers

TORONTO, March 4, 2016 /CNW/ - Seven new Directors have officially joined the Beer Store Board of Directors, as ownership in the Beer Store continues to grow among Ontario-based brewers.

Four new independent Directors were formally appointed to the Beer Store Board of Directors at a shareholders Annual General Meeting (AGM) meeting held this week, after being selected through an independent search process in Q4 2015.

"We are delighted to welcome these new Directors as we implement our new open ownership model. This change to our governance builds on our support for small brewers with increased free listings near their breweries and reduced fees at other locations," said Charlie Angelakos, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Beer Store.

The four new Independent Directors are:

• Tim Penner of Toronto, a longtime marketing executive and former President of Proctor and Gamble Canada;
• Kristine Freudenthaler of Toronto, a logistics and supply chain expert and formerly Senior Vice President of Technology at Canadian Tire;
• Robert Aziz of Oakville, a lawyer and the Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Oxford Properties;
• Tom Muir of Toronto, a finance expert and the former Chief Financial Officer of Maple Leaf Foods.

In addition, two more Directors, Greg Newbrough of Sleeman Breweries and George Croft of Brick Brewery, were elected to the Board at the AGM to represent larger Ontario-based brewer-owners of the Beer Store with annual sales greater than 50,000 hectolitres per year.

Frank Heaps from Steam Whistle Brewing was elected to the Board of Directors as the representative of Ontario-based brewer-owners of the Beer Store with annual sales of less than 50,000 hectolitres per year.

There are now 25 Ontario-based brewers who are co-owners of the Beer Store under its new ownership structure open to all brewers based on the province. Those 25 owners include:

Amsterdam Brewing Company	Toronto
Barnstormer Brewing Company	Barrie
Beau's All Natural Brewing Co.	Vankleek Hill
Brick Brewing Co. Limited	Waterloo
Flying Monkeys Craft Brewery	Barrie
Forked River Brewing Company	London
Grand River Brewing	Cambridge
Highlander Brew Co.	South River
Jeffrey Bruce Halstead (Durham) Brewing Company	Pickering
Hockley Valley Brewing	Orangeville
Labatt Breweries Ontario	London
Lake of Bays Brewing	Baysville
Magnotta Brewery Limited	Vaughan
Molson Ontario Breweries	Etobicoke
Moosehead Breweries Limited	Toronto
Nita Beer Company	Ottawa
Pioneer Brewery Ltd.	Toronto
Railway City Brewing	ST. Thomas
Sawdust City Brewing	Gravenhurst
Side Launch Brewing Company	Collingwood
Sleeman Breweries	Guelph
Steam Whistle Brewing	Toronto
Trafalgar Ales and Meads	Oakville
Wellington County Brewery Inc.	Guelph
Whitewater Brewing	Foresters Falls

About the Beer Store

The Beer Store offers customers 529 brands, provided by 118 brewers. Approximately 1- in-5 brands come from small Ontario brewers. It is a completely open system that allows any brewer in the world to sell their brands in any store they choose. The Beer Store does not set prices. Brewers set their own prices independently in a competitive environment. The Beer Store is deeply committed to responsible sale and not selling to minors and people who are intoxicated. More than 3.6 million customers were challenged in 2013 alone. It is also one of the greenest retailers in the world and collected more than 1.7 billion beer bottles in 2012-2013 (a 92 per cent return rate) and 300 million wine and spirit containers (a 80 per cent return rate). The Beer Store Employs 7,000 hard-working Ontarians with well-paying full- and part-time jobs.

SOURCE The Beer Store

Bill Walker, [email protected], and 416-624-3936