A PIONEER IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE CRAFT BEER INDUSTRY RUSSELL BREWI G R ussell Brewing, one of the original 10 craft by Anita Flowers
growing from one bay to six. The Russell family began the brewery and owned it until 2004 when it was sold to Brian Harris and his four children. The brewery went public in 2005 and the Harris family acquired Port Garry Brewing in Manitoba at the same time. In 2015, the Brewery changed hands again, becoming a private company, and the Port Garry portion was sold. Darbyshire has been with the company for over four years. “When I started with the company, we were in what I would call “dark times.” I say that only because there was so much competition, and we were very static. We weren’t being innovative. We got comfortable with our major brands and relied on them to carry us through. We had almost become the Budweiser of craft beer, in a sense. We had to make some drastic changes to become relevant,” said Darbyshire.
breweries in British Columbia, opened its doors in 1995. A pioneer in the craft brewing industry, Russell Brewing blazed the trail by making small batch unpasteurized ‘real beer’ with natural ingredients. Spotlight chatted with Jimmy Darbyshire, Director of Marketing, Media and Sponsorship at Russell Brewing, about the evolution of the brand over 25 years and the changing market for craft beer.
“We were one of the original craft breweries here in BC. Along with those other brands, we helped pave the way and gave others the opportunity to enter the market and to challenge the Molsons and other big beers. We gave people something different to try,” said Darbyshire. Russell Brewing has been in the same location in Strawberry Hill, Surrey, since the very beginning,
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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