VJ Mallya’s US craft breweries forced to close
As Mr Mallya sat trial at a UK Magistrate Court, over accusations that he defrauded a government-owned bank relating to the 2012 collapse of his Kingfisher Airlines company, his two US breweries brought down the shutters.
California’s Mendocino Brewing Co. and New York’s Olde Saratoga Brewing Co. have ceased business in mid-January 2018, impacting the operations of several other small companies which had their beers contract-brewed there.
The shutdown comes as the Indian government moves to have the Indian billionaire Mallya extradited from London on fraud and money laundering charges in excess of USD one billion, it was reported.
In 2016 Mr Mallya fled to London fearing arrest back home. India sent Britain an official request for Mr Mallya’s extradition in February 2017. He is currently out on bail.
Over the years, Mr Mallya’s US brewing operations have run into a litany of financial issues, media say. In January they came to a head as the 35-year-old Mendocino Brewing Co. shuttered its Ale House in Ukiah – California’s first brewpub – and production ceased at Mendocino’s New York subsidiary, Olde Saratoga. Both breweries were bought by Mr Mallya in 1997.
According to Brewers Association (BA) data, production at the Mendocino and Olde Saratoga breweries has declined since 2012, when the two breweries produced a combined 98,000 hl beer. In 2016, production had dropped to about 77,000 hl.
