industry alcoholic beverage founded 1847 founder john kinder labatt headquarters toronto ontario canada products beer owner anheuser busch inbev subsidiaries the beer store 49 % website labatt.com labatt brewing company ltd. french brasseries labatt du canada lt e is a belgian owned canadian beer company founded by john kinder labatt in 1847 in london ontario . in 1995 it was purchased by belgian brewer interbrew ; it is now part of anheuser busch inbev . labatt is the largest brewer in canada . in the united states labatt brand beers are sold under license by labatt usa which since 2009 has been fully independent of the canadian firm and a subsidiary of the privately held north american breweries of rochester new york . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 brands 4 corporate activities 5 marketing 6 in media 7 see also 8 references 9 external links 9.1 multimedia history edit in 1901 prohibition in canada began through a provincial legislation in prince edward island . in 1916 prohibition was instituted in ontario as well affecting all 64 breweries in the province . although some provinces totally banned alcohol manufacture some permitted production for export to the united states . labatt survived by producing full strength beer for export south of the border and by introducing two temperance ales with less than two per cent alcohol for sale in ontario . however the canadian beer industry suffered a second blow when prohibition in the united states began in 1919 . when prohibition was repealed in ontario in 1926 just 15 breweries remained and only labatt retained its original management . this resulted in a strengthened industry position . in 1945 labatt became a publicly traded company with the issuance of 900 000 shares . john and hugh labatt grandsons of founder john k. labatt launched labatt 50 in 1950 to commemorate 50 years of partnership . the first light ale introduced in canada labatt 50 was canada s best selling beer until 1979 . in 1951 labatt launched its pilsener lager ; when it was introduced in manitoba the beer was nicknamed blue for the colour of its label and the company s support of winnipeg s canadian football league cfl franchise the blue bombers . the nickname stuck and in 1979 labatt blue claimed top spot in the canadian beer market . it lost this status in the late eighties to molson canadian but over the next decade periodically regained top spot as consumer preferences fluctuated . in 2004 budweiser took the top spot pushing blue to third for the first time in twenty five years . 1 2 however since labatt has brewed budweiser and other anheuser busch products in canada under licence since the 1980s 3 labatt likely did not suffer from this shift . moreover labatt blue remains the best selling canadian beer in the world based upon worldwide sales . 4 labatt was also the majority owner of the toronto blue jays from their inception in 1976 until 1995 when interbrew purchased labatt . labatt s innovations include the introduction of the first twist off cap on a refillable bottle in 1984 . in 1989 labatt s had the opportunity to hire canadian model pamela anderson as a labatt s blue zone girl after she was picked out of the crowd by a tv camera man at a bc lions football game wearing a blue zone crop top . photographer and boyfriend dann ilicic produced the blue zone girl poster on his own after labatt s refused to have anything to do with it . later labatt s did buy 1000 posters to deal with consumer demand . in 1995 labatt was acquired by the large belgian multinational brewer interbrew now inbev the world market leader . labatt is part owner of brewers retail inc. operator of the beer store retail chain which protected by legislation has over 90 % market share of ontario off premises beer sales . in early 2007 labatt also acquired lakeport brewing company of hamilton ontario . in 2009 the company sold labatt usa including the american rights to its core labatt products such as blue blue light and labatt 50 to north american breweries and agreed to brew those brands on labatt usa s behalf until 2012 . this sale was mandated by the u.s. department of justice for competitive reasons following inbev s merger with anheuser busch since budweiser and labatt blue were both among the top brands in upstate new york despite the latter having less than 1 % market share in the u.s. overall . 5 the sale did not include u.s. rights to labatt products not carrying the labatt label such as kokanee or alexander keith s which are now distributed in the u.s. by anheuser busch . 6 moreover the underlying intellectual property such as the labatt trademarks remains the property of the canadian firm . finally the sale did not affect labatt s canadian operations in any way ; anheuser busch inbev retains full control of the labatt brand portfolio within canada . according to a report by beer marketer s insights and published by usa today on december 9 2013 sales of labatt blue declined by 28.3 % between 2007 and 2012 . the article listed labatt blue as one of nine beers many americans no longer drink . 7 operations edit canada london ontario st. john s newfoundland and labrador montreal quebec halifax nova scotia creston british columbia edmonton alberta united states buffalo new york original and current united states headquarters norwalk connecticut one time us headquarters labatt s us headquarters were originally located in buffalo for some years . labatt then decided to relocate their headquarters to norwalk connecticut for a time . in 2007 labatt decided to relocate their us operations back to buffalo due to strong sales in the city and closer proximity to their ontario operations . labatt usa is now owned by north american breweries of rochester new york . labatt s toronto rexdale brewery was built in 1970 and ceased operations in 2005 8 and was demolished by 2007 thus ending the brewery s ties to the city . brands edit labatt 50 is a 5 % abv blonde ale 9 launched in 1950 to commemorate 50 years of partnership between the grandson of the brewer s founder . the first light tasting ale introduced in canada labatt 50 was canada s best selling beer until 1979 when with the increasing popularity of lagers it was surpassed by labatt blue . labatt 50 is fermented using a special ale yeast in use at labatt since 1933 . labatt blue is a 5 % abv pale lager . 10 there are 11.53 us fluid ounces 341 ml of beer in a bottle of labatt blue . there are 355 ml of beer in a standard can of labatt blue bleue in canada with other volumes available in specific regions of the country . since labatt blue became canada s best selling beer the company s flagship brand has entered in a number of international beer ratings competitions and has always performed notably well . in 2003 labatt blue received a gold quality award at the world quality selections organized yearly by monde selection . 11 labatt blue pond hockey tournament in buffalo new york 2014 corporate activities edit labatt has sponsored the construction of many buildings in london including labatt park the john labatt centre and the john labatt visual arts centre at the university of western ontario uwo . bessie labatt s son arthur labatt was the 19th chancellor of uwo 2004 2008 . 12 in 1998 labatt announced a 20 year sponsorship agreement with the now defunct montreal expos now the washington nationals which included naming rights for a downtown montreal ballpark that was never built . from 1992 to 1997 they sponsored the english football team nottingham forest f.c. . they also are the official beer and corporate sponsor of the ohl hockey franchise plymouth whalers . in the 1950s the company sponsored a pga tour golf tournament the labatt open . labatt was a sponsor of the williams f1 racing team in the early 1990s . in 1983 86 labatt sponsored ken westerfield canadian frisbee champion and world record holder to perform frisbee shows throughout ontario as well as sponsor the world guts frisbee championships on toronto islands in 1986 . 13 labatt is a beer partner of the mlb s detroit tigers nfl s buffalo bills as well as the nhl s buffalo sabres carolina hurricanes columbus blue jackets new york islanders and pittsburgh penguins . labatt sponsors the annual labatt blue buffalo pond hockey tournament . 14 the outdoor amateur hockey tournament features more than 800 players . 15 in may 2009 labatt gave their support to a seventh nhl team in canada which was pursued by jim balsillie . marketing edit labatt blue is sold in all provinces of canada most of the united states sells labatt with sales particularly strong in the midwest and northeast along the canada united states border although in quebec it is sold under the name labatt bleue with a slightly different logo . aside from the name and containing 4.9 % alcohol volume instead of 5.0 % the red maple leaf on the logo has also been changed to a red fleur de lis . the business sponsored nottingham forest f.c. from 1992 interchanging with shipstones brewery until 1994 to 1997 . 16 in media edit under the influence beer is to canada as wine is to france . how labatt and its allies brewed up a nation of beer drinkers . smithsonian channel . june 30 2013 . see also edit canadian beer ken westerfield labatt schooner frisbee team 1983 86 references edit http www.cassies.ca caselibrary winners molsonscase.pdf this bud s for you canada macleans http www.budweiser.ca beers.php http www.labatt.com brands nationalbrands.php language en lara jakes jordan and emily fredrix november 14 2008 . us inbev must sell labatt usa to close bud deal . usa today . retrieved june 10 2010 . anheuser busch adds kokanee and alexander keith s to import portfolio press release . anheuser busch . july 21 2009 . retrieved june 10 2010 via beeradvocate.com . frohlich thomas c. 9 december 2013 . nine beers many americans no longer drink . usa today . retrieved 9 december 2013 . http www.uer.ca locations show.asp locid 25352 labatt 50 from labatt breweries inbev ratebeer . www.ratebeer.com . retrieved 2010 05 10 . labatt blue from labatt breweries inbev ratebeer . www.ratebeer.com . retrieved 2010 05 10 . the beer http www.uwo.ca univsec board seniorofficers chancellors.pdf tuc hall of fame ken westerfield . toronto ultimate club . retrieved 22 october 2014 . labatt blue buffalo pond hockey tournament . labatt . retrieved 22 february 2014 . labatt pond hockey tourney gets underway at riverworks . buffalo business first . 21 february 2014 . retrieved 22 february 2014 . moor dave . nottingham forest . historicalkits.co.uk . retrieved 27 november 2011 . external links edit the official web site of labatt breweries of canada the official site of labatt blue the official site of labatt bleue 1970s labatt s beer commercial from the internet archive . 2007 labatt blue commercial fish the official site of kokanee the official site of alexander keith s the official site of stella artois the official site of brahma multimedia edit cbc archives cbc radio reports on interbrew s takeover of labatt from 1995 . v t e anheuser busch inbev corporate directors carlos brito ceo august busch iv arnoud de pret roose de calesberg jean luc dehaene philippe de spoelberch jorge paulo lemann subsidiaries anheuser busch inc manufacturers railway st. louis refrigerated car co. inbev ambev grupo modelo equity investments craft brew alliance 32.2 % redhook widmer bros. kona brewing global and multi country brands beck s brahma beer budweiser cerveza corona hoegaarden leffe stella artois