235 - "This Is How I Run a $100M+ Family Business" | Manjit Minhas, Entrepreneur & Investor

Summary

Podcast Summary: Making It with Jon Davids

Episode 235: "This Is How I Run a $100M+ Family Business"

Guest: Manjit Minhas, Entrepreneur & Investor
Date: December 12, 2025

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Overview

This episode features Manjit Minhas, co-owner of Minhas Breweries and Distillery, as she shares the journey of taking a family-run liquor brand from its humble start in her parents’ liquor store to becoming a leading $100M+ manufacturing conglomerate. Host Jon Davids dives deep into Manjit's business strategies, operational insights, funding approaches, and the challenges and opportunities of growing a family business in the competitive world of beverages.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Company Scale & Global Reach

(00:10 – 01:47)

• Employees & Facilities: The group now employs about 1,000 people and operates seven facilities.
• Automation & Efficiency: Operations run nearly 24/7, only pausing briefly for preventative maintenance, reflecting the importance of uptime in manufacturing.
• Global Distribution & Partnerships: They sell in Canada, the U.S., and 16 other countries. Notable collaborations include creating private and white-label products for major retailers like Costco (Kirkland Light), Trader Joe’s (seven beer brands and rum), Sam’s Club, Walmart, 7-Eleven, Safeway, and others.
• Business Mix: The business is a hybrid of proprietary brands and private/white-label production, giving flexibility and reach.

Notable Quote

"If my machines aren't running and they're not packaging and not brewing, I'm not making money either."
— Manjit Minhas, 00:31

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2. Brand Proliferation: Why So Many Brands?

(01:47 – 04:10)

• Customizing for Markets: Many brands were developed to serve different customer segments and regional tastes, often at the request of major retail partners.
• Local Approach: Minhas aimed to be "the local brand in each province before that was fashionable," allowing for agility and customer responsiveness.
• Brand Lifespan: Some products are enduring staples (e.g., Mountain Crest Classic Lager, Alamo Tequilas, Blondie's Irish Cream), while many are high-margin, short-run “quick hits” tailored to specific opportunities or retailer needs.
• Benefits: This approach ensures production volume to keep manufacturing lines running efficiently.

Notable Quote

"Not every brand that we make actually lasts five years or a lifetime. Some are just quick hits. Those are the high margin products, but often they have other purposes behind them."
— Manjit Minhas, 03:50

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3. Origin Story: From Private Label to Industry Player

(04:46 – 06:51)

• Founding: Began in 1999 as a sales, marketing, and branding company, creating a private label for their parents’ liquor stores after their father was laid off as an engineer.
• Co-packing Beginnings: Early products were made under contract (co-packed) in North America and Mexico.
• Expansion via Acquisition: In the early 2000s, Minhas and her brother invested in a Wisconsin brewery, at first just as major customers, then negotiated its purchase ("forced them to sell it") and transformed into full manufacturers in 2006.

Notable Quote

"I think that is one of the great cornerstones to my success—I'm a good negotiator."
— Manjit Minhas, 06:02

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4. Vertical Integration & End-to-End Control

(07:06 – 09:06)

• Growth Strategy: After acquiring the brewery, they expanded capacity and began constructing new breweries and distilleries in regions like Calgary, Regina, and Mexico.
• Vertical Integration: They built or acquired businesses across their supply chain—graphic design, print shop, glass factory, trucking company, and even a film production company—to gain control, lower costs, and increase flexibility.
• Manufacturing vs Sales: Minhas stresses these are distinct businesses requiring different strategies and teams.

Notable Quote

"We wanted to have control over more and more of our end-to-end processes and where we were spending the most money... So we set up shops and they were their own businesses in themselves."
— Manjit Minhas, 08:20

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5. Funding the Business: Financial Discipline & Creative Deals

(09:21 – 11:04)

• Bootstrapped Philosophy: The company avoided heavy debt, operating on the classic “buy with what you have” method instilled by her immigrant parents.
• Cash Flow Focus: Funding growth meant managing and maneuvering cash flow carefully—ensuring suppliers got paid on time, negotiating terms (e.g., 1% discounts for paying within 10 days), and never overextending.
• Open Money Conversations: Minhas stresses the importance of open conversations with suppliers and partners about pain points and priorities, fostering mutually beneficial relationships.

Notable Quote

"You buy with what you have in the bank and you don't overextend yourself... For me, it's always the first thing I talk about."
— Manjit Minhas, 10:09

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Memorable Moments & Additional Insights

• Family Roots & Work Ethic: Minhas’ story is woven with immigrant grit and the desire to build lasting opportunity, starting with her father’s layoff and the family’s pivot into liquor retail.
• Agility as a Competitive Edge: The emphasis on flexibility, both in branding and operations, is cited as vital for surviving and thriving against giant, older competitors.
• Reflections on Complexity: Manjit jokes that, in hindsight, she might have streamlined branding but values the agility and learnings from their many products and approaches.
• Vertical Integration as a Key Strategy: Owning logistics, production, and marketing assets allowed for faster execution and cost savings, a necessity when competing with industry behemoths.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Company Scale & Global Operations: 00:10 – 01:47
• Brand Diversity Strategy: 01:57 – 04:10
• Founding Story & Early Expansion: 04:46 – 06:51
• Scaling & Vertical Integration: 07:06 – 09:06
• Funding & Financial Management: 09:21 – 11:04

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Tone and Style

Manjit Minhas is candid, practical, and proudly self-reliant in her storytelling—reflecting the hands-on, no-nonsense ethos behind her company’s rise. The conversation is accessible yet filled with operational wisdom and entrepreneurial insight.

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Final Takeaway

This episode offers a transparent and instructive look at the growth of a major family-run business, spotlighting how discipline, adaptability, and bold negotiation can propel a startup into a $100M+ industry powerhouse. Manjit Minhas serves as a blueprint for scaling with purpose, strategic integration, and an unshakeable commitment to financial prudence.

Transcript

[A]

This clip of Making it with John Davids features John talking to Manjit Minhas, co owner of Minhas Breweries and Distillery.

[B]

I found some sort of numbers and stats online. I'm sure these are going to be outdated. So says on wikipedia that in 2014 you had revenues of 155 million. I'd imagine they're much higher than that now. Can you give us a sense though, just like how many employees? You said seven facilities. How many bottles of beer do you sell? Any context?

[C]

Yeah. So we have about a thousand employees and of course every year we are getting more automated, as is manufacturing because kind of like people say in the airline business, if my plane isn't in the air, I'm not making money. And for me, if my machines aren't running and they're not packaging and not brewing, I'm not making money either. So we run as often as we can. 247 operations, we're down for two hours in the middle of the night, one to three or two to four, depending on which facility where for maintenance. Because I am an engineer by education and so is my brother, so we truly believe in preventative maintenance. But we, like I say, sell in Canada, the U.S. and 16 other countries around the world. And we partner for white label, private label and our own brands with major companies. Everybody from Costco, we make all their Kirkland Light around the world to Trader Joe's, we make seven brands of beer and you know, the rum for them, to Sam's Club, Walmart, 711 in Canada, Safeway. So Bees, we make all of their private labels in Alberta. Many big chains such as ace, that own 200 stores. So the list goes really on and on as to what we do. And we're a combination of our own brands and private label, white label and.

[B]

You have a lot of brands. Like if you just search for Mint House brands, there's like. I mean, I have to scroll down the page to get to the end.

[A]

So I'd imagine a portion of these.

[B]

Are white label and some you own. Why do you have so many brands? What's the purpose versus having like just one or two hero brands?

[C]

Well, of course, just like anything, when we were getting into the business 23 years ago, we did and we created brands in different markets that were speaking to the different customers and sometimes that creates different brands. Of course, if I could go back, I probably would change some of that. I maybe would have one brand. But like a lot of big brands, if you see a brand across this country, let's say one that we all know, for example, that has the big Canadian flag on it. It is actually different in different provinces because tastes profiles are different. So what we decided to do was to be the local brand in each province before that was kind of fashionable. And so, yeah, it complicates things a little bit, but it definitely makes us have the agility and ability to be able to be nimble, to be able to be quick and change often the marketing, the branding, or even the recipe of the product based on what we're hearing from customers. And when you're new, it's really hard to say what is going to stick, what is going to be successful. So we did a lot of, hey, what do you need? To the big retailers, we'll make that. And we'll create some of our own brands also. And both have their own advantages. Some are to fill up, you know, manufacturing facilities and tanks and lines. When you're making 600 cans a minute, you need a lot of beer in order to fill lines. And so, you know, some was opportunities that we saw that last just a couple years and they're in and out. Not every brand that we make actually lasts five years or a lifetime. And some are just quick hits. And so I think that anybody that is coming up with products knows that what is their bread and butter and what has been around for a long time, such as our Mountain Crest Classic Lager or Alamo Tequilas or Blondie's Irish Cream. Variety of things that have been around for a long time, but there's a ton that come and go, and those are the high margin products, but also they often have other purposes behind them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

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[B]

So if you look at the top 50 brewers in the world, different lists, you're always sort of in the top 15 or 20, I'm finding. How did you guys start this business? So you and your brother start this business, I think like 20 or 25 years ago?

[C]

23. 1999. Yep.

[A]

So you didn't Inherit like a giant.

[B]

Brewery and now you just run it. I mean you actually built this thing.

[C]

Yeah, and so we actually built, unlike now, when we started, we were sales, marketing and branding company. We got our products co packed and they were made by others throughout North America, but mainly in the United States and our tequilas in Mexico. And we decided that we were going to be a private label brand for retailers. First my parents liquor stores. My dad was laid off as an engineer in the bust in 94. And then retail liquor was privatized in Alberta then and they opened up liquor stores here. And so that's how we started, my brother and I, a private label brand for their stores, which was unheard of at that time. And then as we saw that there was some legs to it and that there was definitely a niche market, we started to grow and expand it. And what happened was we went to a brewer then in the United States, that was in Wisconsin, second oldest brewery in the U.S. started in 1845, family owned still. And they were willing to try some new things with us. We invested in the brewery, bought some machinery because they weren't really keen on doing that. And then as we grew it, we very quickly, within a couple of years became 90% of what they were brewing. And then we forced them to sell it. It wasn't for sale, but we used our negotiating techniques. And I think that that is one of the great cornerstones to my success is I am a good negotiator. And we first negotiated and got them to sell the brewery. And then we negotiated a price that we could afford in cash. And then we became manufacturers and actual brewers, not just the sales, marketing and branding company. And that was in 2006, just to backtrack.

[B]

So you started the story of creating private labels for your parents store. What year was that in 1999. Okay, so in 99 you start this in oh six you have a brewery. The second oldest brewery in the U.S. okay. And then take it from there.

[C]

And so then in 2006 when we bought the brewery, we renamed it and we grew its capacities. It was already very large, but we grew what it was able to do. Different can sizes, more storage, et cetera, et cetera. And then after that we never looked back and started building breweries and distilleries from scratch. Calgary, Regina. We also built a distillery in Monroe, Mexico and then our rum from Barbados. And it was one of those things that once you understand that they are two separate businesses in the selling of the product and then the manufacturing of the product, two different Teams, two different businesses. And then we started being more vertically integrated to understand where our cost centers were. Like what was costing us the most money, so bottles, graphic design, et cetera. And so we created our own companies. We have a graphic design company, a print shop, a glass blowing factory, a trucking company. Because logistics, well, that was costing us a lot and big headaches. We wanted to have control over more and more of our end to end processes and where we were spending the most amount of money. And so we set up shops and they were their own businesses in themselves. A TV and film production company, for example, because we wanted to make all of our own ads and we wanted to do them quicker, we wanted to pump out more and slicker presentations. And so I think that a big part of our growth was definitely focusing on sales, but also focusing on the back end of what made us nimble, what made us competitive. Going up against companies that have been around for hundreds of years and had a ton more money and expertise than we did and still do sometimes.

[A]

I can't believe it.

[B]

I knew about the film studio part, but you own the trucks, you own all like you own kind of end to end. You can get your product from A to Z by yourself.

[A]

Pretty much, yeah.

[C]

We just don't farm. So we, you know, we still go to the farmers for not yet malt in the East. My dad always jokes, you know, our ancestors were farmers in India and maybe we'll go back there. And I always say, no, no, no, that I leave up to the pros.

[B]

Okay, very cool. So that's where you started. Now I have to imagine that a lot of this. You mentioned you're a good negotiator, you got the deal on that brewery in Wisconsin, but this sounds like a pretty capital intensive business.

[A]

So how did you fund it?

[B]

I'm curious how you fund it today. I mean, obviously you have cash flow so it's a bit easier. But how did you fund it? Kind of for the first five years.

[C]

Yeah, it was definitely very purposeful. I've always been in charge of the finances of the company, not my brother. And it's definitely a lot of spreadsheets, a lot of planning, but understanding where and what your money goes farther and same thing, some negotiating to say I can pay you. I'm very old school that way because I was taught by my immigrant parents that way you pay and you buy with what you have in the bank and you don't overextend yourself. And so it's definitely an art of maneuvering money around to make sure we're getting paid on time and building those relationships and vice versa. And with suppliers, with a lot of suppliers, for example, I was able to negotiate, I'll pay you within 10 days and you give me a 1% discount. And that adds up. And so I think that you really just got to get creative to say what is valuable to you and what is valuable to, you know, your suppliers and people that you owe money to and vice versa. And so it definitely is an understanding and an open conversation to them to understand where your pinch points are with money and where theirs are and what's important to them. And I think that most people are willing to talk about that as long as you start the conversation. Nobody wants to admit sometimes and talk about money, but for me, it's always the first thing I talk about.

[A]

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