roll out the barrels

As it prepares for a special summer roll-out of its b eer to select U.S.markets, Canada's Sleeman Breweries has chosen Trenstar's MicroStar Keg Management unit to acquire kegs and provide keg management services in the United States. MicroStar is the fourth-largest keg owner in the United States behind Anheuser-Busch, SABMiller and Coors.

By outsourcing the keg management, Sleeman can concentrate on its core business as it introduces its brew in nine states. Says John Driggers, Sleeman's managing director of U.S. operations, "MicroStar will allow Sleeman to introduce Canada's premier craft brewery to the United States with no limitations on geographic markets, no empty keg retrieval challenges and no need for new capital budgeting."

MicroStar owns more than a quarter of a million kegs for distribution in the United States. The "fleet" includes halfbarrels and 5.16-gallon or "sixth barrel" kegs, which are quickly becoming the industry's container of choice for draft beer sales. Current customers of MicroStar's keg management solution include Anchor, Brooklyn, Bulmers Cider, FX Matt, Goose Island, Great Lakes, Jacob Leinenkugel, Shipyard and Widmer Brothers.

The TrenStar group of companies own and manage a proprietary fleet that includes an additional three million kegs in the United Kingdom. TrenStar's outsourcing operation in the United Kingdom combines advanced RFID technology and keg management expertise.