The move has been blamed on the shrinking beer market – an international rather than local phenomena – as well as a shift in the production of locally brewed-under-license brands Carlsberg and Stella Artois to off-site premises.
A company statement announced that the company “will be closing one of the older production lines at Abbotsford, making 33 positions redundant.”
With its acquisition by SAB Miller, the aforementioned brews were moved off-site, making their B2 bottling line redundant.
“This, combined with the challenging short-term Australian market forecast for beer volumes, has led to the decision to close B2, which is one of the older bottling lines at Abbotsford,” the statement continued.
CUB is expecting voluntary redundancies to cover the losses, which are to be finalised in October.