Between Two Fermenters

Andrew Oland, Mr. Moosehead


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Most people in the beer business talk about legacy. Andrew Oland actually carries it. As the sixth-generation President and CEO of Moosehead Breweries - Canada's last major brewery still owned by Canadians - Andrew is the great-great-great-grandson of Susannah Oland, who started brewing on a family farm in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in 1867, the same year Canada became a nation. Six generations, 158 years, two world wars, the Halifax Explosion, Prohibition, devastating fires, a cross-province relocation, and more offers to sell than most people will ever know about. The answer has always been the same: not for sale. 

Troy sits down with Andrew for a conversation about what it really means to steward something worth protecting. From growing up in the Oland household and working a Halifax shipyard before ever setting foot in the family business, to a Harvard MBA cold call that eventually landed Moosehead the Boston Beer import partnership in Canada - Andrew's path to the presidency was anything but a straight line. They get into the big decisions made on his watch: ditching bottles entirely for cans, the maple leaf tabs now quietly appearing on every Moosehead in the country, and the viral Presidential Pack that had Canada talking. And they go deeper - on the Ontario convenience store scramble that had Moosehead hiring 18 people in six weeks, the tax reality that makes beer far too expensive across this country, and what succession planning looks like when you're thinking in generations, not quarters. 

What's in this episode: 

  • The Oland family origin story - Susannah, the Halifax Explosion, the move to Saint John, and how the brand got its name 
  • Working outside the business first, the road to the presidency, and the four-minute meeting that changed everything 
  • Bottles to cans - what the data showed and what Andrew says to the fans still mourning the green bottle 
  • Beer tax, industry unity, and what it will actually take to move government 
  • The Mascot Brewery acquisition in Vaughan and what's next for Moosehead in Ontario 

 Thank you for tuning into the #BetweenTwoFermenters podcast. Please take a moment to give us a rating and review on whichever platform you get your podcasts at and be sure to follow GreatLakesBeer on all social channels. greatlakesbeer.com. Supporting local never tasted soooo good!  

Hosted by Troy Burtch, Between Two Fermenters, a podcast brought to you by Toronto's Great Lakes Brewery where craft beer and conversation collide - straight from the tanks to your ears. 

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