LONDON, 28 August 2025: As part of an ongoing commitment to increase the efficiency and resiliency of its manufacturing footprint, Diageo plc (“Diageo”) has announced it will cease operations at its bottling facility in Amherstburg, Ontario by February 2026. This is one of Diageo’s facilities currently bottling Crown Royal products. Crown Royal will continue to be mashed, distilled, and aged in Canada, just as it has been since 1939. Diageo will maintain its significant footprint across Canada, including at our Canadian headquarters and warehouse operations in the Greater Toronto Area and other bottling and distillation facilities in Gimli, Manitoba and Valleyfield, Quebec.
This decision reflects Diageo’s efforts to continuously improve its North American supply chain and ensure the company is best positioned for long-term sustainable growth. Through this process, the company will unlock additional productivity and increase resiliency and capacity to scale, effectively meeting demand across its markets and shifting some bottling volume to be closer to its many U.S. Crown Royal consumers. These changes are consistent with the strategic priorities in Diageo’s global Accelerate program, which sets out clear cash delivery targets and a disciplined approach to operational excellence and cost efficiency for the company.
“We appreciate our dedicated Amherstburg employees for their contributions to Diageo and the Crown Royal brand. This was a difficult decision, but one that is crucial to improving the efficiency and resiliency of our supply chain network,” said Marsha McIntosh, Diageo’s President of North America Supply: “All Crown Royal will be mashed, distilled, and aged at our Canadian facilities, just as it has been for nearly a century, and will continue to be the great whisky our consumers know and love. We are committed to continuing our support for the community during this transition.”
Diageo will continue to invest in Canada through its ongoing production, local operations, and contributions to local communities.