By Charlene Boyce B etween 2009 and 2014 the number of small inde- pendently owned brew companies grew by 40 percent. In 2014, 350 of the 520 breweries existing in Canada were in the craft category type. However, in 1997 that was not the case. When the PEI Brewing Company was established by Kevin Murphy as “Murphy’s Brewing,” there were only 73 breweries in Canada and ‘craft beer’ was not on anyone’s topic of conversation let alone news worthy. In 2000, when the brewing business moved into Murphy’s newly-opened Gahan House restaurant, becoming Gahan Brewing, the number of breweries in Canada had risen to 83, a modest growth of 14 percent over 3 years. What followed from 2001 to 2005 was a period of slow positive growth, or what industry experts say was the fermentation period for the craft brewing industry because between 2006 and 2007 the number of breweries rocketed from 88 to 268. In 2008, Gahan Brewing opened an offsite location dedication to its beer production, and that was an award winning business decision that paid off. In June of 2011, Gahan Brewing received their first Gold Award from the Canadian Brewing Awards, for Sir John A’s Honey Wheat Ale proving once and for all that Prince Edward Island made beer products were not just for the
local islanders but that they could compete in the global marketplace with their products. It was shortly after this validation that Kevin Murphy and Jeff Squires, previously a principal, hockey coach and the owner of a communi- cations company, formed a partnership and rechristened the company, PEI Brewing Company. Jeff became the President and CEO and his first undertaking was the immediate development and expansion of a new brewery which was a new state-of-the-art facility featuring the latest technology available in the brewing industry, built by Diversified Metal Engineering and completed in May of 2013. But don’t think for a minute that Jeff’s eye ever left the brew, as he continued working with international beer experts, and during this time of expansion the PEI Brewing Company won Gold and Silver Medals at the 2012 Canadian Brewing Awards and a Silver Medal at the 2013 Canadian Brewing Awards.
“Craft beer is over 20 percent of the beer category now on the West coast”
“Gahan had a portfolio of beers,” notes Jeff. “Sir John
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OCTOBER 2016 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS
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