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For decades, the cases of beer contained respect for past service and tools to build community.

“It was good for the retirees and their neighbours and their families. It was good for everyone I think,” said Labatt retiree Kevin Lomack. “It was something to give back to the communities.”

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In war time, Labatt employees and retirees turned their vouchers in and had the company send beer to soldiers, said retiree Guy Harrington.

If an employer can afford to do that kind of goodwill, it generally pays off for them in spades

“I don’t even drink beer. I give it to my kids and my friends.”

But the free beer for Labatt retirees will stop flowing in a couple of years, the company confirmed Monday.

“With the escalating costs associated with maintaining a full benefits package, Labatt made the reluctant decision to discontinue our free beer allotment to all retirees in Canada,” Charlie Angelakos, spokesperson for Labatt Breweries Canada, said in an emailed statement.

“We only came to this decision after benchmarking a range of Canadian beer and consumer packaged goods companies. It showed that our overall package of pension and retirement benefits are competitive and none of the companies we surveyed offered free product to retirees.”