Who owns KOKANEE BEER?

KOKANEE BEER is owned by

ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV

Kokanee Beer was first created in Creston, British Columbia, Canada in 1959 by the Columbia Brewery. Columbia was founded in 1898 by Fritz Sick, a German born immigrant who moved to British Columbia after training as a cooper in his homeland. It was originally known as Kaiser & Sick Brewery, then as the Fort Steele Brewery when it moved to nearby Fernie the following year. In the 1930s, Fort Steele merged with three other breweries to become Columbia Brewery.

Kokanee Beer was a success for Columbia Brewery, and eventually became their flagship. But this wasn’t enough to stave off a wave of conglomeration in the brewing industry – the compnany was taken over by Labatt Brewing Company in 1974. This led to a surge in popularity for Kokanee, and by 1986 the beer had cornered 30% of the Canadian beer market. That popularity did not last, however; by 1992, facing a wave of competition from major Canadian brands, their share fell to 17%.

In 1995, Labatt Brewing Company was purchased by Belgian beer conglomerate Interbrew, which later merged with South American company AmBev in 2004 to form InBev. In 2008, InBev purchased Anheuser-Busch, and named the new company Anheuser-Busch InBev. In the United States, both Labatt and Kokanee had been imported by Labatt USA, later known as InBev USA, which was a subsidiary of InBev. When the deal closed with Anheuser-Busch, however, the company was forced to divest that subsidiary to appease regulators from the Department of Justice. That company is now owned by Florida Ice and Farm Company, which holds the license to sell Labatt in the United States. However the deal did not include the rights to Kokanee – those are still held by Anheuser-Busch InBev.

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