Multinational beverage maker Diageo plans to outsource its ready-to-drink (RTD) vodka beverage bottling to an Ontario firm and close a bottling plant in Quebec, affecting 65 employees.
The company announced Thursday it will close its plant at Dorval, Que. in late February 2010 and move that plant’s production to Delta Beverages, based at Woodbridge, Ont.
“This is a tough business decision, but one that will help Diageo remain highly competitive in a declining but profitable RTD segment in Canada and help ensure the long-term sustainability of the business and jobs for the future,” Mario Leduc, Diageo’s Canadian vice-president for bottling, said in a release.
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Leduc said the move to the Woodbridge facility “will increase efficiencies and significantly lower costs in our supply chain while continuing to maintain our high-quality standards” for RTDs.
The Dorval facility has bottled Smirnoff Ice, Smirnoff Ice Triple Black and Smirnoff Twisted V Flavors for Diageo’s RTD line since 2003.
Diageo, whose other brands include Crown Royal, Guinness, Baileys, Tanqueray, Johnnie Walker and Captain Morgan, already handles some of its production through such third-party agreements in Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta and New Brunswick.
The company still owns Canadian supply facilities at Valleyfield, Que., Amherstburg, Ont. and Gimli, Man.
