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Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Ontario gov't allows mixed drinks' sale in groceries

The Ontario government is fast-tracking its plan to allow grocery stores to sell premixed alcoholic drinks, after government workers opposed to the plan shut down provincial liquor stores by walking out on strike.  

Ontario further speeds up alcohol expansion amid LCBO strike | Windsor Star | Allison Jones, Canadian Press:

July 16, 2024 - ""Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government is rushing to get ready-to-drink cocktails on grocery store shelves amid a strike at the province’s main liquor retailer.... Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy announced Monday that grocery stores that are already licensed to sell beer and wine can start ordering the pre-mixed cocktails, as well as large packs of beer, to sell starting on Thursday [July 18] — sooner than the planned Aug. 1 launch.... 

"The sped-up move is part of an already fast-tracked plan to expand alcohol sales in the province. Ford’s previous plan was to get beer, wine and ready-to-drink cocktails in convenience stores and all grocery stores by 2026 [see video], but in May he announced that would instead happen this year.

"Leadership at the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, whose approximately 10,000 workers at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario [LCBO] walked off the job July 5, has said ... the main issue in the labour dispute ... is the expanded sale of ready-to-drink cocktails. Previous rounds of alcohol market expansion in Ontario have kept spirits sales in the hands of the LCBO, and OPSEU worries undoing that will threaten the LCBO and union jobs. Getting ready-to-drink beverages in grocery stores even sooner is an attempt to undercut the LCBO and amounts to interfering in bargaining, said OPSEU president JP Hornick....

"Ford has denied he is trying to dismantle or privatize the LCBO, and government officials have noted that LCBO revenues have increased through previous rounds of alcohol sales expansions. Bethlenfalvy has directed the Crown corporation to showcase and promote Ontario beer, wine, spirits and ciders as part of the expansion, and he has said it will still have an important role as a wholesaler.

"Ford last week firmly ruled out a reversal on the ready-to-drink expansion, saying the ship had sailed 'halfway across Lake Ontario.' The 450 grocery stores across the province that are already licensed to sell beer, wine and ciders can begin placing orders for the coolers and seltzers on Thursday and can sell the beverages as soon as they receive them. 

"They will also be able to sell larger packages of beer, such as cases of 24. An agreement the former Liberal government signed with The Beer Store in 2015 ... [which] gave the company exclusive rights to sell 12- and 24-packs of beer .... had been set to expire at the end of 2025, but Ford’s sped-up plan involves an 'early implementation agreement' with The Beer Store that involves the province paying the company up to $225 million to help it keep stores open and workers employed. The province is also giving brewers a rebate on an LCBO fee that normally brings in $45 million a year, and it is giving retailers a 10-per-cent wholesale discount."

Read more: https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/ontario-further-speeds-up-alcohol-expansion-amid-lcbo-strike

Premier Ford announces plans to allow beer and wine sales in Ontario convenience stores by 2026 | cpac | December 12, 2023:

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