East York brewery moving out of Toronto due to rising costs

An East York brewery said it’s closing it doors in Toronto and moving out of town due to rising costs.

Jeff Manol, co-founder of Muddy York Brewing Co. first opened the brewery nine years ago with his wife Susan and now employs eight people.

But rising costs have led them to make the decision to move the business out of Toronto to Stouffville.

“We were hoping the business would grow, we could gain capital and then eventually buy the building and it stayed out of our reach the whole time. Every time we had enough money, the building [cost] doubled. So it’s triple what it was worth 10 years,” Manol told CityNews.

The building has now been conditionally sold, the lease isn’t being renewed. He described leasing another space nearby as “potentially doable” but added lease rates have shot up too and industrial spaces in the size he needs are hard to find.

“That would definitely put a strain on what we’re doing. Margins are huge in the craft brewing industry.”

And moving the business won’t be easy.

“It is going to be a lot of work … There’s nine years worth of work here that needs to be dismantled,” said Manol.

As for the overall business environment, Manol describes a mixed bag. He said Toronto is a good place to do business with lots of demand, but adds the tax and regulatory strain placed on brewers by the city and province, can be hefty.

“I know of other breweries in the province that have already faced this and are continuing facing this and we’ll see in Toronto if this starts happening more, my assumption is it will.”

Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, John Kiru, said for the most part, the city is retaining its business community.

“Toronto continues to be a very good environment, based on what business you are looking to establish, to open a business,” said Kiru.

But he added breweries do face some unique challenges.

“The reality is square footage here in Toronto than outside of Toronto, so again the reality is business types that need that extra footprint are likely to find it a challenge to operate in Toronto,” Kiru added.

Manol said a new location has nearly been finalized in Stouffville and he hopes to up and running there this February.