Northern Breweries was a Canadian

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...

, with facilities in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal el ...

and Sault Ste. Marie,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, in operation from 1907 until 2006.

History

The company was founded in 1907 by three families, the Doran family, the Mackey family and the Fee family. The organizer and operating head of the company was J.J. Doran. Doran, together with co-founders J.J. Mackey and Richard Fee expanded operations throughout Northern Ontario. Construction and commencement of its primary facility began in Sudbury as Sudbury Brewing and Malting Co. in 1907. It began to expand in 1911, with the purchase of the Soo Falls Brewing Co. in Sault Ste. Marie, and again in 1913 with the acquisition of Kakabeka Falls Brewing Co. in Fort William. In 1919, the company established its Doran's Brewery division in

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 (2021). The city's economy is based on natural resource ext ...

, and in 1948 it acquired the Port Arthur Beverage Co. in Port Arthur. All of the individual breweries operated under their original names until 1960. In that year, all of the brewing operations were consolidated under one management, relinquishing their previous names and becoming known as Doran's Northern Breweries. During its prime, the company's most distinctive product was the "draft ball",

draft beer Draught beer, also spelt draft, is beer served from a cask or keg rather than from a bottle or can. Draught beer served from a pressurised keg is also known as Name Until Joseph Bramah patented the beer engine in 1785, beer was served d ...

packaged in a large plastic ball instead of a conventional metal

beer keg A keg is a small barrel. Wooden kegs made by a cooper were used to transport nails, gunpowder, and a variety of liquids. A keg is normally now constructed of stainless steel, although aluminium can be used if it is coated with plastic on t ...

Acquisitions

On August 31, 1971 the company was purchased by Canadian Breweries, although it continued to operate under the name Doran's Northern Breweries. In July 1977, the Doran's employees purchased the company back from Canadian Breweries, and Northern became the first

employee-owned Employee stock ownership, or employee share ownership, is where a company's employees own shares in that company (or in the parent company of a group of companies). US employees typically acquire shares through a share option plan. In the UK, Emp ...

brewing

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

. In 1979, the brewery began marketing its beers in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

as well. In 2004, the company was purchased by an investment group led by Leo Schotte. Schotte hired a veteran of the brewery business in Canada, William Sharpe, as president. In 2005, the company announced a major rebranding effort, retiring many of its old products in favour of more modern brews and brand identities.

Bankruptcy

In 2006 questions were raised at Sudbury and Sault Ste. Marie city councils about tax benefits extended to Northern Breweries and whether the brewery was meeting the conditions of the agreement. One of the conditions was increased hiring at the breweries and there was no evidence that this had taken place. In June 2006, Sharpe appeared before Sault Ste. Marie city council and cited poor sales and lack of investor interest as reasons for the downturn in the company's fortunes. By 2006, the brewery was $7 million in debt and had ceased production at the Sudbury facility. Sharpe left the company in July 2006, and by December the company was defunct. Northern Breweries products are no longer being manufactured. A tax sale of its assets took place in 2009.

Redevelopment

The company's facility in Sudbury was acquired in 2010 by Sookram Bus Lines, a local tour and charter bus operator, but owner Druve Sookram put the building back up for sale in 2013 after determining that his plans for the building were not financially feasible. In June 2014, real estate developer Greg Oldenburg acquired the Sudbury facility, announcing plans to convert the building into a

loft A loft is a building's upper storey or elevated area in a room directly under the roof (American usage), or just an attic: a storage space under the roof usually accessed by a ladder (primarily British usage). A loft apartment refers to large ...

condominium development. In November 2016, Oldenburg received rezoning approval from the city's planning department to proceed with his conversion plans. The facility in Sault Ste. Marie was acquired by Renaissance Place Corporation in 2011, with a mixed condominium and retail project planned for the site, but was damaged by

arson Arson is the crime of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, wate ...

in 2013"Former Northern Breweries for sale again"
'' Sault Star'', February 21, 2014. and has been listed for resale after falling into tax arrears. New

microbrewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

companies have been established in both cities since Northern Breweries' demise, with Stack Brewing launched in Sudbury in 2013, OutSpoken Brewing launched in Sault Ste. Marie in 2014 and Northern Superior Brewing launched in Sault Ste. Marie in 2015."It's coming for you"
''

SooToday.com Village Media is a Canadian media company, which operates a number of hyperlocal online news and community websites throughout Ontario.Northern Breweries site, archived September 2007
{{coord, 46.48864, N, 81.00427, W, display=title Companies based in Greater Sudbury Companies based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Former cooperatives of Canada Defunct breweries of Canada Food and drink companies disestablished in 2006 1907 establishments in Ontario 2006 disestablishments in Ontario Food and drink companies established in 1907 Cuisine of Ontario