Beeronomics: Consolidation, Eh?

Via Beervana I learn about the purchase of Pyramid and MacTarnahans by Labatt.

Nothing much to add to my previous post about this type of consolidation when Widhook announced the purchase of Kona: it is all about the economies of scale.

Now, when I used to spend my summers with the Canadian side of my family outside of Smiths Falls, Ontario, there were no two ways about it: you were either Molson people or Labatt people.  My family were Molson people.  So I guess I will continue to not purchase Macs and Pyramid.

Apparently there is no plan to change the current breweries. This is startlingly similar to the previous era of big brewery consolidation whereby popular regional brands were snapped up by big breweries with national ambitions.  Interesting to see it all happen again.  It is also a good example of what economics is all about relative to business.  Economics is all about understanding the fundamental forces behind market interactions.