The Bar Towel

Craig wrote:The LCBO do deliver though, they just do it through Canada Post. They rolled out Foodora for their stuff too, but i think got caught off guard when Foodora left Canada.

good point
BUT
as I mentioned, Canada Post is not actually delivering alcohol, they are taking the box directly to post office (in my case Shoppers Drug Mart), which in effect is the same as going to LCBO store to pick up the bottles!
this is a terrible solution for someone like my in-laws (both late 70's). The risk of contact is much greater if FIL has to go to SDM than having box dropped at his doorstep. His "solution" has been to pay one of the delivery companies to drop off at my house in Markham - service not available to Stouffville - then he drives over to get it.

My point is the Canada Post "solution" is itself fraught with bureaucratic landmines - LCBO & CP "have to follow the rules" whereas private companies can bend a little bit given the situation. Example, I've had a box delivered by my local brewery 3 times. They can bend the rules by ringing the doorbell and just leaving the box - technically they have to check for ID, but don't.

Note: I've avoided ordering from breweries using CP (Dominion) since the first week of the pandemic when I discovered CPs policy and had to go to SDM to pick up 2 packages. Local breweries have the "advantage" of being able to deliver locally using "idle" staff they're paying anyway - LCBO could do the same (if not for labour contract restrictions) since they have stores within minutes of the vast majority of Ontario consumers.

portwood wrote:

Belgian wrote:This is an organization first / customers last mindset. Their main concern is protecting staff, not society.

I agree with your first point but protecting staff is not a concern for their safety as much as a concern not to piss off the union.

The union is doing their job, and this situation is a perfectly good example of why unions are still valuable - to protect workers!

As any would. The way they are 'protecting workers' is putting public at higher risk, that's the sacrificial move I was pointing out.

And the 'protecting' they do in eliminating half the weekly store hours is I think questionable. They have a bunch of part time staff they could offer more hours, rather than create long, slow soviet-era lineups that pose contagion risks to customers. This is the result of a lot of silly bureaucracy to try to look 'socially responsible.' 6 PM closings are just goofy.

(And of course though nobody has to line up when it's really busy, most alcohol consumers don't purchase planning far ahead.)

Well, here we are a year later.

From what I can tell, the craft brewers have generally adapted well, with many more offering on-line ordering and delivery. A couple that I have talked to said they have been doing very well. I know there has been the odd brewery close, but I haven't see too much news about that, so some of the dire concerns at the start of all this don't seem to have happened.....thankful for that. In fact, there has still been a number of breweries open in the last year. And the number of new beers being announced, whether one-offs, return of seasonals, or new 'permanent' offerings doesn't seem to have slowed down either.

S. St. Jeb wrote: And the number of new beers being announced, whether one-offs, return of seasonals, or new 'permanent' offerings doesn't seem to have slowed down either.

I suspect the new releases are partly a way to drive repeat sales. A new beer every few weeks means I'll probably order some of my old favorites at the same time.

JerCraigs wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote: And the number of new beers being announced, whether one-offs, return of seasonals, or new 'permanent' offerings doesn't seem to have slowed down either.

I suspect the new releases are partly a way to drive repeat sales. A new beer every few weeks means I'll probably order some of my old favorites at the same time.

customers only want new beer, if you dont have something new every week you are an afterthought

matt7215 wrote:

JerCraigs wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote: And the number of new beers being announced, whether one-offs, return of seasonals, or new 'permanent' offerings doesn't seem to have slowed down either.

I suspect the new releases are partly a way to drive repeat sales. A new beer every few weeks means I'll probably order some of my old favorites at the same time.

customers only want new beer, if you don't have something new every week you are an afterthought

I was inclined to argue that but I was curious so I actually took at a look at my own orders for the last year and was a bit surprised.

• Overall my orders (by brand) are about 4.5:1 new stuff to repeats. The numbers would change a lot if I counted by volume (e.g. I ordered from Collective and got one bottle of a new brand along with 12 x Life in the Clouds.) I didn't count the Indie Alehouse advent calendar since I ordered that without knowing what was in it.
• If I take out "bottle shop" orders (e.g. Volo, 4th and 7) where I specifically ordered a bunch of singles of new stuff, and only count breweries its about 3.4:1 new to old.
• If I take out the "new to me" breweries that I didn't often buy from before the pandemic, or they are new breweries, so it's all mostly new to me anyways it's about 2.5:1
• If I counted total volumes it would shift more towards repeats - e.g. When I ordered Life in the Clouds, or Octopus I ordered a bunch. (I also think I am missing a couple of orders from my list)

So yeah, while I am ordering a lot more old favorites where I order from is often driven by where there is a new release. (I have ordered as much butter chicken and wings from Granite as I have beer, but seeing new beers come out is often a trigger to order )

I'd be curious see the sales analytics from some of the breweries to see how new releases shape sales figures. I bet it's pretty interesting.

JerCraigs wrote:

matt7215 wrote:

JerCraigs wrote:I suspect the new releases are partly a way to drive repeat sales. A new beer every few weeks means I'll probably order some of my old favorites at the same time.

customers only want new beer, if you don't have something new every week you are an afterthought

I was inclined to argue that but I was curious so I actually took at a look at my own orders for the last year and was a bit surprised.

• Overall my orders (by brand) are about 4.5:1 new stuff to repeats. The numbers would change a lot if I counted by volume (e.g. I ordered from Collective and got one bottle of a new brand along with 12 x Life in the Clouds.) I didn't count the Indie Alehouse advent calendar since I ordered that without knowing what was in it.
• If I take out "bottle shop" orders (e.g. Volo, 4th and 7) where I specifically ordered a bunch of singles of new stuff, and only count breweries its about 3.4:1 new to old.
• If I take out the "new to me" breweries that I didn't often buy from before the pandemic, or they are new breweries, so it's all mostly new to me anyways it's about 2.5:1
• If I counted total volumes it would shift more towards repeats - e.g. When I ordered Life in the Clouds, or Octopus I ordered a bunch. (I also think I am missing a couple of orders from my list)

So yeah, while I am ordering a lot more old favorites where I order from is often driven by where there is a new release. (I have ordered as much butter chicken and wings from Granite as I have beer, but seeing new beers come out is often a trigger to order )

I'd be curious see the sales analytics from some of the breweries to see how new releases shape sales figures. I bet it's pretty interesting.

This is mostly based off release data as sales data is hard to come by; here is an infographic on beer releases for breweries doing online ordering across Ontario: https://brewed.today/articles/2020

This discussion piqued my interest though, when I get time I might go back and compare the number of 2019 releases against 2020 for breweries that ordered online both years to see if there's a pattern of more frequent releases since the pandemic started.

cboden wrote: This is mostly based off release data as sales data is hard to come by; here is an infographic on beer releases for breweries doing online ordering across Ontario: https://brewed.today/articles/2020

This discussion piqued my interest though, when I get time I might go back and compare the number of 2019 releases against 2020 for breweries that ordered online both years to see if there's a pattern of more frequent releases since the pandemic started.

Holy cow! That's awesome, thanks for sharing!

"3099 Different beers released throughout the year" WOW! I knew it was a lot but wow!

JerCraigs wrote:

cboden wrote: This is mostly based off release data as sales data is hard to come by; here is an infographic on beer releases for breweries doing online ordering across Ontario: https://brewed.today/articles/2020

This discussion piqued my interest though, when I get time I might go back and compare the number of 2019 releases against 2020 for breweries that ordered online both years to see if there's a pattern of more frequent releases since the pandemic started.

Holy cow! That's awesome, thanks for sharing!

"3099 Different beers released throughout the year" WOW! I knew it was a lot but wow!

This data is via breweries that sell online, so the number is actually much higher when you account for all the breweries not shipping.

MatttthewGeorge wrote:

JerCraigs wrote:

cboden wrote: This is mostly based off release data as sales data is hard to come by; here is an infographic on beer releases for breweries doing online ordering across Ontario: https://brewed.today/articles/2020

This discussion piqued my interest though, when I get time I might go back and compare the number of 2019 releases against 2020 for breweries that ordered online both years to see if there's a pattern of more frequent releases since the pandemic started.

Holy cow! That's awesome, thanks for sharing!

"3099 Different beers released throughout the year" WOW! I knew it was a lot but wow!

This data is via breweries that sell online, so the number is actually much higher when you account for all the breweries not shipping.

Slight correction, it's actually only breweries that ship Ontario wide. I should also have breweries that do local delivery for a 2021 version.

But you're right, the actual number would be much higher.