Hi all,
I know it's been a while, but I've gotten around to formatting for download the seminar I was going to give at the St. Lawrence Market beer show.
For those who are interested, you can read it here:
http://www.bartowel.com/reports/BeerSeminar.pdf
It's all about the LCBO beer selection process. It's not as scathing as it could be, but I wanted to be fair.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Cass on 2002-08-04 10:12 ]</font>
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We have a trivia question in order to register to prevent bots. If you have any issues with answering, contact us at cass@bartowel.com for help.
Introducing Light Mode! If you would like a Bar Towel social experience that isn't the traditional blue, you can now select Light Mode. Go to the User Control Panel and then Board Preferences, and select "Day Drinking" (Light Mode) from the My Board Style drop-down menu. You can always switch back to "Night Drinking" (Dark Mode). Enjoy!
St. Lawrence Beer Seminar
Very interesting Cass. But I can't help but think that if the LCBO were serious about their beer market, they would put more effort into it.
I have heard the latest radio add "the 'B' in LCBO is for beer" but quite frankly it doesn't differentiate them from the Beer Store.
The staff at the stores are not knowledgable on the product, nor are they even informed of what is in the rotation programme. In fact, I have been asked many times within the last year by the LCBO staff " Is that part of the Vintages Programme?"when asking for a new release. They don't even know beer is no longer carried by Vintages!
I feel that LCBO views these products in the same manner as Molson/Labatt/Sleemans, in that either the customer is fully aware of the product or they depend on the brewer/agent for complete advertising.This just isn't realistic for 99% of these super-premium beers.
The staff should be better educated (perhaps in-store beer experts) and they should present the new product in a propper fashion. End of isle displays, propper signage and information sheets by the product. None of this is very costly for the LCBO, and if some "excitement" is created, then more customers will be willing to try the product.
This will ressult in increased sales, repeat sales, and a situation where brewers/agents may be able to do such things as in-store samplings, seminars, etc. Lets face it, they do this with the wine dept.
Sorry for the rant, but I feel that why would the general public view these beers as "premium" (different & more complex than Am. Pale Lagers) if the LCBO doesn't treat them as such.
I have heard the latest radio add "the 'B' in LCBO is for beer" but quite frankly it doesn't differentiate them from the Beer Store.
The staff at the stores are not knowledgable on the product, nor are they even informed of what is in the rotation programme. In fact, I have been asked many times within the last year by the LCBO staff " Is that part of the Vintages Programme?"when asking for a new release. They don't even know beer is no longer carried by Vintages!
I feel that LCBO views these products in the same manner as Molson/Labatt/Sleemans, in that either the customer is fully aware of the product or they depend on the brewer/agent for complete advertising.This just isn't realistic for 99% of these super-premium beers.
The staff should be better educated (perhaps in-store beer experts) and they should present the new product in a propper fashion. End of isle displays, propper signage and information sheets by the product. None of this is very costly for the LCBO, and if some "excitement" is created, then more customers will be willing to try the product.
This will ressult in increased sales, repeat sales, and a situation where brewers/agents may be able to do such things as in-store samplings, seminars, etc. Lets face it, they do this with the wine dept.
Sorry for the rant, but I feel that why would the general public view these beers as "premium" (different & more complex than Am. Pale Lagers) if the LCBO doesn't treat them as such.
Ideally what we need are a handful of "beer boutiques" in some of the larger urban stores which could focus on this segment of the market and carry a year round selection of good products in addition to participating in the rotational promotions along with the smaller stores. Otherwise, the LCBO should give up their monopoly in this area if they're not prepared to serve the consumer and let private entrepreneurs serve this market....although I hate to say it but any such entrepreneur would probably have difficulty surviving....this goes back to the debate we had on the Bartowel last year about the viability of a private beer store in Ontario.