Canada is very much a nation of beer drinkers. Despite a general decline in sales over the last few years, beer is still the most popular alcoholic beverage among Canadian consumers. However, beer drinkers are increasingly swinging more and more towards imported brands to quench their thirst. In 2019, imported beer sales in Canada amounted to approximately 3.55 million hectoliters. Approximately 39 percent of domestic beer consumption was generated by consumers aged between 18 and 34.
Anheuser-Busch InBev and Molson Coors Brewing Company are the largest beer manufacturers in Canada, together controlling over almost 50 percent of the market. In 2019, Molson Coors Brewing Company was estimated to have generated over two billion Canadian dollars of revenue in Canada; roughly one billion U.S. dollars more than Anheuser-Busch InBev did that same year.
On the retail end, vendors not only sell beer but handle bottle returns. A bottle can be reused 15 to 20 times, preventing enormous wastage. Once a bottle is spent, it is crushed and sent to glass-makers for the manufacture of new bottles. Aluminum beer cans are also crushed and recycled, as are the beer cartons. Draught beer is sold in reusable kegs that can last 15 to 20 years before they too are also crushed and recycled. Even the husks of the spent grain used in the brewing process are recycled. After use in the brewing process, they are collected and sold as animal feed.
