Sapporo Breweries Ltd. is planning to shift production of non-alcoholic beer made in Canada for the U.S. market to facilities in the United States, a move company executives linked to 50 percent U.S. tariffs on covered Canadian beer exports.
The Japanese brewer, whose flagship brand is described as the top-selling Asian beer in the United States, currently produces Sapporo 0.0% for American customers at plants operated by its Canadian subsidiary, Sleeman Breweries. Sapporo acquired Sleeman in 2006, which operates four Canadian breweries, in Guelph, Ontario; Vernon, British Columbia; Chambly, Quebec; and Calgary, Alberta.
U.S. tariffs of 50 percent on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods took effect on August 22, 2026. Canada’s retaliatory tariffs of 15 percent to 50 percent on hundreds of U.S. products took effect on September 8.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Sapporo Chief Strategy Officer Rieko Shofu said the company would relocate the non-alcoholic beer production by the first half of 2027. “Tariffs are something out of our control,” Shofu said. “We’re going to move ahead with local production.”
She added, “The tariff, and also escalating the 50% tariff, will impact us very much, particularly the next year.” When asked how quickly the company would expand U.S. production, she replied, “Next year.”
Shofu further stated that Sapporo is considering adding manufacturing capacity on the U.S. West Coast by acquiring or building a brewery or contracting with other manufacturers. “The US is a huge market, and we have a lot of momentum right now in terms of how much we can expand our share of that market,” she said.
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👀 Sapporo beer moving production to U.S. from Canada on tariffs https://t.co/W9iAKWhlLS
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 8, 2026
Sleeman later stated that the change is limited in scope and not yet settled. “To clarify recent media reports, the potential relocation of Sapporo 0.0% production for the U.S. market from Sleeman Breweries’ Canadian facilities to Sapporo USA’s U.S. facilities is not imminent or finalized,” a company statement said. “Sapporo 0.0% that is produced in Canada for sale in the US represents only 0.5 per cent of Sleeman Breweries’ total production in Canada.”
The statement added that beer sold by Sleeman in Canada is brewed in Canada, except for 650-millilitre cans of Sapporo Premium imported from Vietnam. “Sleeman Breweries remains committed to sustaining and growing our production and brands in the Canadian market, including the non-alcoholic beer we brew and sell in Canada.” A company spokesperson also said there are no plans for impact to jobs at the Unibroue brewery in Chambly.
The Canada-to-U.S. shift comes amid a broader North American production review. In April 2026, Sapporo said it would make its Richmond, Virginia, plant the core U.S. production site for the Sapporo brand and cease brewing at its Escondido, California, plant by the end of 2026. The company sold Stone Brewing assets and earlier closed Anchor Brewing.
Sapporo had budgeted a ¥1.2 billion negative impact from U.S. tariffs for fiscal 2026, up from ¥800 million in fiscal year 2025. In addition, the company has not publicly specified which U.S. plant would handle the relocated non-alcoholic volume or the expected case volume involved.
