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KeithsGuy wrote: Do you think The Beer Store locked them out because the big 3 already lost too much business to the cheaper brands?
While they may be a near-monopoly, I don't think that TBS can refuse to stock any beer that meets government regulations and is willing to pony up the stocking fees.
That being said - the originally planned April launch of Lakeshore Creek was delayed due to the AGCO nixing their plans to include a coupon for a free 750 mL can in each 24-pack. I think they said at that time that the beer would be launched in May, but there's no sign of it yet.
GregClow wrote:Although you would figure that they would cross-link the websites, so maybe their pseudo-brewery actually has been shut down.
Ahh.. that makes sense. Thanks for clearing that up Greg. It is still really odd however, that things went from bringing a top selling beer from Calgary to Ontario, increased media coverage, claiming to spend all this ad money to... nothing. With no news or reason why. Very strange. Do you think The Beer Store locked them out because the big 3 already lost too much business to the cheaper brands?
s.
Now the Beer Store locking them out would make sense to me, but would have to be done very quietly to avoid major legal issues that could lead to the breakup of the cherished duopoly. Manjit Minhas from what I've seen wouldn't be especially quiet about such matters, nor should she.
It is quite possible that the websites are being retooled. They've gone through several different versions of their sites over their existence. Some of them are quite bizarre and the latest one surely would be near the top of that list with its vague attempts at presenting the company as a collection of different legal entities (possibly true) with different ownership and management (not so true). I cringe when companies start creating paper breweries - reduced transparency is bad for the beer business. Too bad our government doesn't see it that way.
[quote="Josh Oakes] I cringe when companies start creating paper breweries - reduced transparency is bad for the beer business. Too bad our government doesn't see it that way.[/quote]
Perhaps except for Lakeport which probably has 100 to 200 different legal entities that they can produce beer under. Last I heard, Lakeport was doing marginally well. It doesn't mean that the product is worthy.
Well, the mystery of the non-appearance of Lakeshore Creek in Ontario has been solved:
Beer War
by Michelle Magnan
A major battle is brewing over value beer in Canada.
2005-07-18
Manjit Minhas just wants to sell cheap beer. The 25-year-old founder and president of Calgary-based Mountain Crest Liquors Inc. has been trying for months now to sell her Lakeshore Creek beer in Ontario, but she was officially denied entry at the end of June. Manjit incorporated Lakeshore Creek Brewing--the eastern counterpart of her brother Ravinder's Calgary-based Mountain Crest Brewing Co., an upstart that now commands 10% of Alberta's retail beer market--in Ontario last summer, but she hasn't seen any business yet. According to Minhas, Lakeshore was barred from the province because the powers that be--the Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario and retail chain the Beer Store--don't approve of the structure of her company, or of her marketing and advertising tactics. "We are going to do a full exposé as far as what crap we've been through, how unjust the system is, and how it's been skewed to favour the big boys," Minhas says. Ontario's Beer Store happens to be owned by Molson Coors, Labatt and Sleeman--Canada's three biggest brewers.
Gotta agree with her...'the government' had nothing to do with the decision ...and I challenge any government peon to say that they did.
I don't see the need for another buck-a-beer piece of crap but it is likely that Molbatt conspired to keep them out. If you disagree and are holding a smoking gun, speak up! It would be interesting to see which government slaves are in the employ of the big brewers. Should be traceable.
Corporate cronyism in government? ...in Ontario?...say it isn't true Dorothy
Mindas made the mistake of developing a business plan for an open demand economy model and importing it to a jurisdiction where command economics and marketing exclusiveness prevail.
I don't think Mindas could have put Ontario's parochial little bureaucratic noses out of joint more if they had called their company Bush Brewing and marketed their beer as "Wal-Mart" Pilsner.
I did up a design for Steve Smith of Red Green fame for a 12 pack of Possum Lodger to be sold throughout the Walmart chain/Sam's Club which would also support his tour program with the chain. Never happened though. The duct tape on top to close it was a nice touch.
