Ontario Announces First Winning Bidders for Sale of Beer in Grocery Stores

[Craig]

I've actually got no real conception of what 10,000 square feet looks like in grocery store form. Does anyone have a better idea, using stores in the downtown Toronto area as comparables?

Can we use Rabba foods as a unit of measurement? I think 10k square feet would be about two Rabbas
Even the smallest No Frills I can think of exceeds 10k. Maybe about the size of a Shoppers Drug Mart?

Hah, when I saw the 10,000 sq ft rule I got really sad. I had a little bit of hope that my local Rabba would have a remote chance of stocking some beers.

The odds of a Rabba winning an auction were pretty slim anyway. But it's pretty likely the current plan for 350 stores or whatever is just an intermediary step. Eventually they'll have to open it up to other places too.

[Tapsucker]

I haven't read the details of the new legislation myself, so correct me if I am wrong, but somewhere I did notice that these grocers will still have to source their beer via the TBS. Can breweries sell direct to these stores or will they still be required to list, distribute through and pay a cut to the TBS?

If so, I call bullshit on this whole process.

[Craig]

We covered that just a few posts ago. They can source from the 'BO.

[Craig]

Ben with the scoop!

http://bensbeerblog.com/2015/12/11/lobl ... eer-sales/

- Beer in Loblaws as of the 18th.
- 50% shelf space for craft (!)

Beers:

The craft beer that will be available in Loblaws stores as of next weekend will include:
Amsterdam Brewing Co’s Boneshaker IPA;
Beau’s All-Natural Brewing Co’s Kissmeyer Nordic Pale Ale, The Tom Green Beer Milk Stout, and Lugtread Lagered Ale;
Brick Brewery’s Waterloo Dark;
Collective Arts Brewery’s Rhyme and Reason Pale Ale;
Double Trouble Brewing Co’s Hops and Robbers IPA;
Flying Monkey’s Hoptical Illusion;
Great Lakes Brewery’s Canuck Pale Ale and Pompous Ass Pale Ale;
Junction Craft Brewing’s Conductor’s Craft Ale;
Lake of Bays’ Spark House Red Ale;
Muskoka Brewery’s Detour Session IPA and Mad Tom IPA;
Nickel Brook’s Headstock IPA;
Side Launch Brewing’s Side Launch Wheat; and
Steam Whistle Premium Pilsner.

Stores:

In the GTA, the list of Loblaws stores to carry beer will be:

The Newmarket Superstore;
The Georgetown Superstore;
Loblaws Burnamthorpe Market;
Loblaws Victoria Park;
The Oshawa Superstore;
The Dufferin & Steeles Superstore; and
Loblaws at Leslie and Lakeshore

In the East, the stores that will sell beer are:

The South Kanata Superstore;
Loblaws College Square Market in Ottawa;
The Loblaws Princess Market in Kingston; and
Browns Independent Grocer in Stittsville.

In the West, the stores with beer will be:

Highland Hills Superstore in Kitchener;
Oakridge Mall Superstore in London;
Zehrs Cambridge Centre;
Walker Road Superstore in Windsor; the
The Fortinos Supermarket on Mall Road in Hamilton

In the North, the Thunder Bay Superstore will be the lone Loblaws to sell beer.

[Masterplan]

So great they'll have an every lcbo selection... In kingston the Bo is 1 min drive from that boblawblog.

[portwood]

As with all first steps after deregulating anything previously government controlled, the beer list is ho hum - nothing new.

The exciting part is for the future. Once other retailers get a taste of the sales/profit potential, the floodgates will open. The retail lobby will pressure the gov to expand the program ... there will be no "going back" for the crappy Beer Store and kgbo. In order to maintain their margins TBS & KGBO will have to up their game and offer more of what people want (unique craft offerings), more conveniently (i.e. home delivery), or die a slow death as the grocery stores sell tons of the high volume stuff

[napoleon]

As with all first steps after deregulating anything previously government controlled, the beer list is ho hum - nothing new.

The exciting part is for the future. Once other retailers get a taste of the sales/profit potential, the floodgates will open. The retail lobby will pressure the gov to expand the program ... there will be no "going back" for the crappy Beer Store and kgbo. In order to maintain their margins TBS & KGBO will have to up their game and offer more of what people want (unique craft offerings), more conveniently (i.e. home delivery), or die a slow death as the grocery stores sell tons of the high volume stuff

I do really hope you're right. The list is pretty meh. For me to be excited about this, they really need to find a way to differentiate their offerings going forward.

[cratez]

While it's unfortunate that the initial selection is identical to any decent LCBO in Anywhere, Ontario, it's encouraging that Loblaws has decided to devote 50% of its beer shelf space to craft brands, and I suspect the selection will improve over time. Seems like a good start IMO, especially for a major, non-specialty grocer like Loblaws. I wonder if most/all of the beer will be refrigerated?

[nickw]

While it's unfortunate that the initial selection is identical to any decent LCBO in Anywhere, Ontario, it's encouraging that Loblaws has decided to devote 50% of its beer shelf space to craft brands, and I suspect the selection will improve over time. Seems like a good start IMO, especially for a major, non-specialty grocer like Loblaws. I wonder if most/all of the beer will be refrigerated?

I hope it's this, but my cynical thoughts are that, after a few months, and if sales of the macros at certain stores vastly outsell the craft, the opposite might happen. After all, it's great PR to announce a dedication of 50% to craft as sales roll out, but it'd be easy to roll it back after time to far less notice.

But fingers crossed this is just the start of a positive move...

[portwood]

While it's unfortunate that the initial selection is identical to any decent LCBO in Anywhere, Ontario, it's encouraging that Loblaws has decided to devote 50% of its beer shelf space to craft brands, and I suspect the selection will improve over time. Seems like a good start IMO, especially for a major, non-specialty grocer like Loblaws. I wonder if most/all of the beer will be refrigerated?

I hope it's this, but my cynical thoughts are that, after a few months, and if sales of the macros at certain stores vastly outsell the craft, the opposite might happen. After all, it's great PR to announce a dedication of 50% to craft as sales roll out, but it'd be easy to roll it back after time to far less notice.

But fingers crossed this is just the start of a positive move...

I don't know the numbers but suspect Loblaws shoppers buy more "premium" products than the average grocery shopper (similar to Whole Paycheque, errr WFoods). To me that means they are more likely to buy micro than macro brews (Molson Canadian, Bud, et al). Time will tell, though.

[nickw]

While it's unfortunate that the initial selection is identical to any decent LCBO in Anywhere, Ontario, it's encouraging that Loblaws has decided to devote 50% of its beer shelf space to craft brands, and I suspect the selection will improve over time. Seems like a good start IMO, especially for a major, non-specialty grocer like Loblaws. I wonder if most/all of the beer will be refrigerated?

I hope it's this, but my cynical thoughts are that, after a few months, and if sales of the macros at certain stores vastly outsell the craft, the opposite might happen. After all, it's great PR to announce a dedication of 50% to craft as sales roll out, but it'd be easy to roll it back after time to far less notice.

But fingers crossed this is just the start of a positive move...

I don't know the numbers but suspect Loblaws shoppers buy more "premium" products than the average grocery shopper (similar to Whole Paycheque, errr WFoods). To me that means they are more likely to buy micro than macro brews (Molson Canadian, Bud, et al). Time will tell, though.

Yeah, this will be interesting to watch unfold.

[Swampale]

Ontario still needs their own Craft Beer stores.

[spinrsx]

would a grocery store be able to handle expired beers differently than the lcbo? For example, the grocery store puts on a 'reduced 50%' on a loaf of bread that is about to expire, could they do the same for their beer?

What does the lcbo do with expired beer anyways? I see it there on the shelf often.. do they just let it sit until it sells?

this might add a bonus to the beer at the grocery store thing.. same products as the lcbo - but better freshness? (and possibly more of it being refrigerated?)

[Craig]

They have to sell at the same prices as TBS/LCBO, so I don't think you're going to see much in the way of sales of any sort on beer.

[Masterplan]

Could be interesting with stores having always fresh guarantees...