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Eggs, Milk and a case of 24

                 The age of buying your beer at a local grocery store is soon upon us, and what a glorious time it will be. Soon, there won’t be any need to stand in a crowded line at the beer store before the long weekend ahead. You won’t even have to make two trips—beer will be just a few aisles away from BBQ fixings and other weekend essentials.

 

           The government of Ontario made the announcement that beer sales in the province will be expanded to include grocery stores that meet certain criteria set forth in new legislation. The legislation rules state that 20 percent of shelf space must be set aside for local craft brewers, an announcement that stands to give craft brewers more exposure than ever to the market.

 

           Phil Cacace, owner of Tallboys Craft Brewery and the Wenona Craft Beer Lodge, says this new retail opportunity is huge for craft brewers. But, he says,shelves are still going to be dominated by the three major breweries: Sapporo, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and SAB Miller. “Labatt Blue and Molson Canadian will probably have big displays. There will be a craft beer section, but I’m guessing it will be the about the size of the organics section—around five to 10 percent of the shelf space,” says Cacace.

 

          While the ownership of the Beer Store in the hands of three of the largest competitors in the Canadian market has been a concern for brewers and consumers alike According to Peter Chiodo, owner and Brewer of Flying Monkey Craft Beer and Chair of the Grocery store committee for Ontario Craft Brewer. This new playing field may still yield benefits to local brewers. 

 

         “With the beer store being owned by Molson, Labatt and Sleeman I think that being in grocery stores will level the playing field where there is going to be an opportunity to truly compete at shelf in a neutral environment.” Said Chiodo. He continues. “Craft beer is growing by double digit numbers in Ontario so there is enough room for everybody to compete. And really what you are looking at though is another outlet. You looking at taking it from 1200 retail outlets to 1600 retail outlets, so you’re getting almost a 25% increase in the availability so for us as craft brewers this is beneficial we need more places to sell craft beer.”

 

        The Beer Store in itself was never set up to be a shopping experience, it was, come in, pick up, and leave and with little variety in product.

”The big thing is the lack of apparent consumer choice when you walk into the store, if you don’t know about all the small brands, don’t have the time to look at a wall of hundreds of hundreds of beer labels it becomes almost daunting and are forced to make your choice quickly.” Said Peter Bulut, President of Great Lake Brewing.

 

       This too may change to cater to craft brewers as well as consumers as part of the new changes the Beer Store will also have to save 20 percent of their space to smaller scale craft brewers.

 

       A change that is seen mostly as positive however for some may still not be fast enough according to Phil Cacace.

 

       “The major three breweries have a strangle hold on the way we consume, on the way we see alcohol in this province, it’s a major issue. It’s probably not going to change anytime soon, there’s a lot of red tape involved.

 

       Our laws are antique. The same laws that are in place now have been in place right now have been in since prohibition ended. It’s a bit of a joke, I’m glad to see that there’s more beer in grocery stores but we’re living in the 30’s.”

 

 

 

 

By: Nolan N. White

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