"major initiative" to boost ontario craft beer....

[Droogy]

Someone just sent this to me as an FYI.. not involved in this in any way...

Media Advisory - Chain convenience stores including 7-Eleven, Mac's (Couche Tard), and Petro-Canada (Suncor) to unveil major initiative to boost Ontario's craft beer and wine industriesTORONTO, Oct. 28, 2013 /CNW/ - Large convenience store retailers accounting for over 3,000 locations in Ontario will be making a major announcement about an initiative that would provide a significant boost to the growth and profile of Ontario's craft beer and wine industries.

Representatives of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) and major retailers will be at Queen's Park to speak about what this initiative could mean for Ontario's craft breweries and wineries.


Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2012
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Queen's Park Media Studio
Main Legislative Building
Toronto, Ontario

SOURCE Ontario Convenience Stores Association

[ercousin]

Someone just sent this to me as an FYI.. not involved in this in any way...

Media Advisory - Chain convenience stores including 7-Eleven, Mac's (Couche Tard), and Petro-Canada (Suncor) to unveil major initiative to boost Ontario's craft beer and wine industriesTORONTO, Oct. 28, 2013 /CNW/ - Large convenience store retailers accounting for over 3,000 locations in Ontario will be making a major announcement about an initiative that would provide a significant boost to the growth and profile of Ontario's craft beer and wine industries.

Representatives of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA) and major retailers will be at Queen's Park to speak about what this initiative could mean for Ontario's craft breweries and wineries.


Date: Tuesday, October 29, 2012
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Location: Queen's Park Media Studio
Main Legislative Building
Toronto, Ontario

SOURCE Ontario Convenience Stores Association

No way, craft beer in convenience stores? This would be amazing, especially since my main reservation about convenience stores selling beer is that they would probably devote 95% of their shelve space to BMC beers...

[Cass]

Here's the press release...

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1249805 ... ario-s-cra

No more detail on that. If this is actually beer in convenience stores and it has flown under the radar that would be remarkable. I can't help but be pessimistic though....

[ercousin]

Here's the press release...

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1249805 ... ario-s-cra

No more detail on that. If this is actually beer in convenience stores and it has flown under the radar that would be remarkable. I can't help but be pessimistic though....

I find it surprising that the news release explicitly talks so much about craft beer instead of just beer in general. If it was just all beer in convenience stores they would probably have phrased things differently.

I wonder if "big beer" lobby convinced the government that they should be allowed to continue to restrict their products to LCBO and TBS.

[dale cannon]

Here's the press release...

http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1249805 ... ario-s-cra

No more detail on that. If this is actually beer in convenience stores and it has flown under the radar that would be remarkable. I can't help but be pessimistic though....

I would think that beer in convenience stores would be the result of an initiative, not the unveiling of one?

Shot in the dark, but perhaps this has something to do with OCSA members looking to give Ontario craft beer and wine producers access to their product distribution systems? And thus all that would be left would be to actually allow liquor sales in convenience stores? It seems to me that the strategy to date has been to remove all possible barriers (petition to show will of the people, will of the stores, demonstrate ability to prevent sales to minors, etc.) to alcohol sales in convenience stores..

[Peter Collins]

I just hope this is not some cruel early April Fool's joke.

Will be watching for this tomorrow and hoping for the best.

[Gedge]

Government says no, predictably.

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/politics/archives/2013/10/20131028-190655.html

[saints_gambit]

I spoke briefly with the PR representative asking him whether this was going to be an actual result or whether they'd be delivering more petitions. Turns out they mean to make concessions to craft brewers and small wineries for shelf space.

This is not bad because it means that the lobbying group is at least paying attention to the feedback they've had in the press. If it would be possible to get craft beer in a convenience store, you might get more press from the craft beer supporters in the media.

Truth be told, I don't think that leverage helps them when they're up against 1.6 billion in profit and more in tax revenue. Unless opening up the convenience stores as sales avenues would provide the government with a truly significant amount of additional income that would offset the fact that the LCBO profit is about 1.5% of the provincial budget, it's not going to happen.

Good attempt at creating leverage in the media by appealing to an additional rank of drinks writers though. Truth is simply that they need a plan that adds half a billlion to the government coffers in order to be taken seriously. I don't believe that there's any chance that you can convince the government that they could do that. Therefore, we retain the status quo.

It is interesting to note that it is primarily the revenue that is the sticking point.

[Kel Varnsen]

Everytime I read these kind of stories it makes me wonder why the big grocery players like Walmart, Costco and Loblaws aren't getting in on the action. I mean if the law were to change I am sure all of them would sell beer. And I know at least Costco and Walmart sell beer in other places. Those companies must have a fair amount of political power too, so with them not commenting do they know something we don't know.

Personally I would rather see beer being sold from bars with things like off sales, growler fills or cold beer and wine stores attached to bars. I mean it just seems like breweries would need a whole army of extra sales reps to go around to all of the little corner stores and try to convince them to carry your product a case or two at a time. At least with bars you already have sales reps going to those locations anyways.

[saints_gambit]

Everytime I read these kind of stories it makes me wonder why the big grocery players like Walmart, Costco and Loblaws aren't getting in on the action. I mean if the law were to change I am sure all of them would sell beer. And I know at least Costco and Walmart sell beer in other places. Those companies must have a fair amount of political power too, so with them not commenting do they know something we don't know.

Personally I would rather see beer being sold from bars with things like off sales, growler fills or cold beer and wine stores attached to bars. I mean it just seems like breweries would need a whole army of extra sales reps to go around to all of the little corner stores and try to convince them to carry your product a case or two at a time. At least with bars you already have sales reps going to those locations anyways.

I think that one of the things that stops the grocery chains in Ontario from getting on board is the massive initial remodeling cost and the fact that there's a minimum price. You can't come up with a pricing strategy to undercut the competition beyond a certain point, although I suppose you could make margins better if you had a house brand. Think about the amount of investment in order to do that. It's possible, but you need capital and expertise that isn't allocated in that direction at the moment.

[Cass]

While it's commendable for the convenience store association to try to get the craft brewers on board, with the OCB so deeply embedded into the LCBO I would suspect they'll never publicly support it.

Good on somebody for trying to make this an issue in the public's eye. Without the public realizing that this is something that can only change via political forces things will never actually change.

[Kel Varnsen]

While it's commendable for the convenience store association to try to get the craft brewers on board, with the OCB so deeply embedded into the LCBO I would suspect they'll never publicly support it.

On the other hand, there are a ton of Ontario breweries that aren't OCB members.

[Craig]

Plus getting into corner stores would be the best thing that's ever happened to craft brewers. They could finally sell bottles of their smaller brews somewhere other than from the brewery and whatever they can sell in kegs to bars.

[Kel Varnsen]

Plus getting into corner stores would be the best thing that's ever happened to craft brewers. They could finally sell bottles of their smaller brews somewhere other than from the brewery and whatever they can sell in kegs to bars.

Would it be though? I mean lets say that every corner store is allowed to sell beer on top of every beer store and LCBO. How many more sales reps would each brewery need so that they could go around to every corner store and get orders taken for one case of beer at a time? That's kind of why I prefer if the system changed as off sales through bars. I mean breweries already have relationships with bar owners and know which bars can move their products.

[dale cannon]

Plus getting into corner stores would be the best thing that's ever happened to craft brewers. They could finally sell bottles of their smaller brews somewhere other than from the brewery and whatever they can sell in kegs to bars.

Would it be though? I mean lets say that every corner store is allowed to sell beer on top of every beer store and LCBO. How many more sales reps would each brewery need so that they could go around to every corner store and get orders taken for one case of beer at a time? That's kind of why I prefer if the system changed as off sales through bars. I mean breweries already have relationships with bar owners and know which bars can move their products.

I'm thinking that they will try to address this with the OCSA's initiative. Mac's/7-Eleven/Petro Canada's are all over the damn place. Independent convenience stores are dying off and being replaced by chains. If I'm a craft brewer, I'd focus my energy on getting at least one of my products into these chains, which means multiple locations in every city and town in the province. Worrying about getting one-offs, etc. into the specialty stores would be secondary. Think of Couche Tard in QC, every single one sells the exact same beer. That's because it's a centralized decision.