Diageo Under Fire from Unifor for Lack of Transparency on Crown Royal Production

Unifor is demanding transparency from Diageo on Crown Royal production, as the company plans to shut down its Amherstburg plant while claiming the whisky will still be made in Canada. Unifor disputes Diageo's claim that all Crown Royal will continue to be blended in Canada, citing the addition of Canadian water and other ingredients in the blending process. The union is concerned that once Diageo alters the made-in-Canada process, it will continue to shift jobs south of the border.

Unifor, the union representing workers at Diageo Canada Inc., has demanded transparency from the company regarding its plans to shut down the Crown Royal bottling plant in Amherstburg, Ontario. The union disputes Diageo's claim that the whisky will still be made in Canada, citing the addition of Canadian water and other ingredients in the blending process. The union is concerned that once Diageo alters the made-in-Canada process, it will continue to shift jobs south of the border.

Diageo announced last week that it will close the Amherstburg plant by February 2026 as part of efforts to improve its North American supply chain. The company said that all Crown Royal will continue to be blended in Canada for all markets, including the U.S. However, Unifor argues that the addition of Canadian water and other ingredients in the blending process at the Amherstburg plant is crucial to maintaining the product's Canadian identity.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also expressed concern over the plant closure, noting that the Liquor Control Board of Ontario buys C$740 million ($540 million) worth of Diageo products a year. Ford has threatened to "hurt" Diageo if it proceeds with the closure, stating that the company "is about as dumb as a bag of hammers" for doing so.

Unifor National President Lana Payne has stated that she will do everything she can to save the jobs and that beautiful community. She has also cited a precedent where Diageo tried to move the operation to Baltimore to blend and bottle Crown Royal for the Canadian market, but that didn't work out, and they ended up bringing the jobs back.

If Diageo alters the made-in-Canada process, it will no longer be able to call Crown Royal a Canadian whisky. The union is fighting to keep the operation in Amherstburg, where it has been done for 75 years, to maintain the consistency and quality of the product.

References:
[1] https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/getting-bottom-crown-royal-bottling-195746825.html
[2] https://www.globalbankingandfinance.com/DIAGEO-CANADA-5627f575-50fc-4385-b107-06e6d490d194
[3] https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/warmington-crown-royal-wont-be-canadian-whisky-if-plant-moved-to-u-s