Hiram walkers
Hiram walkersHiram Walkers
History of The Company
It all started in the days of smuggling liquor. Canadian whisky had a new cleaner flavour and was no ordinary Whisky. The founder was no ordinary man either. Massachusetts born Hiram Walker became one of the world's first commuters travelling day by day from the United States to Canada. He was the first for many things such as putting whisky into glass bottles and getting his own town named after him. Walkerville is a small town in Ontario, where Hiram Walker opened his first flour mill and distillery in 1858. This did not all happen in a short period of time. Hiram Walker waited ten years after leaving his home farm in the late 1840's before hitting fortune. With $40,000 in his pocket he ignored the usual advice to head west for fortune and went south through Detroit to Canada, lucky him.
Hiram Walker titled his Canadian born Whisky "Club Whisky" because of how popular it was in expensive hotels and classy �gentlemen' clubs. But the United States insisted he call it "Canadian" as to not get the classic �American' whiskies mixed up with poor Canadian brands. Sales of Canadian Club skyrocketed, not only in Canada but in the United States and overseas too. In 1898 Hiram Walkers even became the first company to receive the honour of the �royal warrant' from the British Royal Family. Others enjoyed Canadian Club besides the Royal Family, such as Al Capone who made a living smuggling the great whisky between Detroit and Windsor along the Detroit River. Thousands of Gallons of Walker's famous Canadian Club crossed our Great Lakes separating the United States and Canada both illegally and now legally. It wasn't just the excitement of drinking illegal liquor that increased demand. After prohibition it was still sought after. Canadian Club whisky is truly the best of the best.
The Product of Hiram Walker
Canadian whiskies have a unique distillation and blending process. A combination of rye, barley rye malt and barley malt are the secret to a good Canadian whisky. This selection of grains can have an immense effect on the flavouring as do the yeast strains used for fermentation. Canadian Club distills a neutral base for their whisky three times and blends it with the flavour (distilled twice) and another flavouring product (distilled once). This blending process is called �pre-blending' and is unique to Canadian Club. It refers to the whiskies being blended prior to maturation. Once being blended, three different types of barrels can be used for the aging process. The Bourbon Barrel is only used once when aging Bourbon. It is then used again as Used Bourbon Barrels and used once again as Re-Charred Used Bourbon Barrels. The colour of the whisky depends on the barrel used, as the whisky extracts the colour from the wood. The Re-charred barrel has a darker coloured whisky compared to the Bourbon Barrel or the Used Bourbon Barrel. All Canadian Club whiskies are aged for at least three years and exports are aged for at least six. Over these six years 20% of the whisky evaporates. This is what is called the Angel's Share! Once removed from the barrels the whiskey has 60% alcohol, which is then lowered to 40%, so we can enjoy it! The whisky is aged in Pike Creek, a small town just 20 kilometer's from Walkerville. This facility is the largest in the world with 16 aging warehouse that hold over 80,000 barrels. Together these warehouses cover more than 150 football fields.
This process of making whisky dates all the way back to 1858 when Hiram Walker created an extremely long distillation process to remove the harshness found in the usual whisky. The end result is a light, smooth, mellow taste. This is incorporated into many different whiskies.
CANADIAN SPECIAL OLD- This Hiram Walker legacy is a 4 year old whisky and is one of the top 10 whiskies in the world. Sales are over 400,000 cases per year.
ROYAL CANADIAN- This 4 year old whisky is a major market for Sweden, selling 18,000 cases per year.
NORTHERN LIGHT- Another 4 year old whisky with it's key market in the southern United States selling over 280,000 cases per year.
RICH AND RARE- Sales of this 4 year old whisky are over 300,000 cases per year. This whisky is ranked number 1 whisky in Alaska and West Texas.
Performance of the Company
According to Graph #1 there is a downward trend in global sale of Canadian Club. Between 1987 and the most recent date 1997 we have seen a slow, gradual decline. This could be a result of low advertising compared to other companies as seen in Graph #2. As you can see Canadian Club has the lowest advertisement spenditure during all four time periods listed, compared to the other companies. Hiram Walkers relies on it's unique distilliation process to keep it up with the top whiskies in the world.
The Market
Canadian Club's top market is the United States with 64.1% of the sales. Canada is next at 17.4% followed by Japan with 5.9%. Global Duty Free stores are next at 5.8%, Europe 4.8% and the rest of the world comes out at 2%. The downward trend of sales has forced Canadian Club to come up with a new global brand advertising strategy. In the United States, Canadian Club plans to rejuvenate the product with a completely new advertising strategy. Including a new theme, tag line, packaging, and even a complimentary phone card program. "Club Rules" and tag lines such as "you wouldn't buy a cheap car and expect a smooth ride" and "in fishing and whisky if it's too young throw it back" are examples of the new advertising strategy aimed at the younger consumers. Their strategy is focused in the United States where 64.1% of their sales are, as previously mentioned.
Canadian Club's Raw Materials
Four types of grains are used at Hiram Walkers. 80% of the corn, rye, rye malt and barley malt are home grown right here in Ontario. The other 20% comes from Ohio, and Illinois. Since Hiram Walkers is part of a Commodity Market they tend to purchase their grains in bulk when the prices are low. Still 13-16 tractor trailer loads of these grains are brought in daily. In a year Hiram Walkers can use up to fifty square miles of grain.
Employees and Their Union
Hiram Walker started out with 600 employees when the company first started, and made sure each one was housed well in the town of Walkerville. The Executive Office was built in Windsor on Riverside Drive, so the noticeable "Canadian Club" sign would be recognized by the Americans. Now Hiram Walkers has 400 employees. 250 are unionized and the remaining 150 are on salary. In the Windsor plant there are three different unions. The CAW, Electrician's Union and the Pipe Fitters Union. The CAW is for the general labour and the EU and PFU are for the plumbers and electricians at Hiram Walkers.
The Future For This Company
Canadian Club is owned by Allied Domecq, the second largest company in the world. Allied Domecq also owns companies such as Baskin Robins, Dunkin' Donuts, Kahla, Sauza and Ballentine's just to name a few. Luckily this strong parent company keeps the future bright for Canadian Club. If Canadian Club was an independent company their sales would drop even further with their new advertising campaign. Not only are they aiming at the wrong age group (18-24 year olds drink cheap beer!) Their tag lines stink, and are backwards. Young people do drive cheap cars and few even fish! Whisky is an older drink. If Canadian Club could find an advertising campaign like Absolute Vodka their sales would really soar.