Tilray Brands will cease operations at Hop Valley Brewing in Eugene, Oregon, in July, and transfer production of Hop Valley beers to other breweries owned by the global cannabis and U.S. craft brewing company, Brewbound has learned.
Tilray chief corporate affairs officer Berrin Noorata confirmed the moves to Brewbound.
“This decision is part of the Project 420 strategic plan, which aims to improve efficiency and collaboration within our beverage organization by optimizing resource allocation and leveraging synergies across Tilray’s beverage organization,” Noorata wrote. “The Hop Valley taproom in Springfield will remain open, serving customers with our latest and most innovative brews.”
Tilray’s Oregon brewery footprint includes 10 Barrel Brewing in Bend and Widmer Brothers in Portland.
The company did not respond to questions about the number of employees who will be affected by the shutdown in Eugene. Brewbound has heard that as many as 50 workers could be affected by the job cuts, which have already begun.
The changes mirror ones Tilray made at Revolver Brewing in Texas this past February. The company ceased large-scale production at the brewery’s Granbury facility, transferring production to other Tilray-owned facilities. The Revolver location’s taproom has remained open.
Tilray acquired Hop Valley, Revolver, Atwater Brewery (Detroit, Michigan) and Terrapin Beer Co. (Athens, Georgia) in a $23 million deal with Molson Coors last summer.
Those brands joined Tilray’s craft beer portfolio a year after an $85 million acquisition of eight craft brands from Anheuser-Busch InBev in 2023 and previous deals for SweetWater Brewing (2020); Green Flash and Alpine Beer Co. (2021); and Montauk Brewing (2022).
Hop Valley produced 75,000 barrels of beer in 2023, a 21% year-over-year decline, according to data from the Beers Association. The company reached 100,000 barrels in 2020 and 110,000 barrels in 2021, when Molson Coors brought some of its offerings nationwide, before consecutive years of declines.
Hop Valley was founded in 2009. Molson Coors acquired the brewery in 2016.