B.C. Wineries Debate Grocery Sales

Oct 4, 2015

(Wines&Vines) - More than 100 people gathered at Poplar Grove Estate Winery on the Naramata Bench Thursday afternoon to discuss wine sales in B.C. grocery stores.

A growing movement of wineries and retailers have gathered under the banner of the B.C. Alliance for Smart Liquor Retail Choice to challenge a contentious initiative to sell wine in select grocery stores.

Grocery store sales began at a single store in April and have now expanded to two stores, both operated by the Overwaitea Food Group owned by local billionaire Jim Pattison.

Sales occur under a store within a store model, through licenses held by the B.C. Wine Institute. The licenses limit store offerings to B.C. wines, theoretically giving local producers an edge.

However, many small wineries feel the arrangement threatens small, independent producers and vendors.

“Our meeting (Thursday) is really to try and raise enough issues that we can get support from a broad range of wineries, not to stop anything, but merely to say, ‘Let’s pause and study this a little bit more before we go forward,’” explained Kim Pullen, principal of Church and State Estate Winery in Oliver, who has played a leading role in the alliance.

The group claims support from wineries across the province as well as groups representing licensees, including the Alliance of Beverage Licensees of B.C. (ABLE BC) and the B.C. Private Liquor Store Association.

“We think the issue is big enough,” Pullen said. “It really has nothing to do with one association or another.”

Wineries remain particularly concerned about access to store shelves, an issue they’ve been discussing since the province initially raised the prospect of grocery store sales following a review of liquor policies in 2013.

This was also the case when Washington state privatized liquor sales following a ballot initiative in 2011, and Pullen points to experiences in Australia and New Zealand, which he would like British Columbia to take into account and learn from, prior to expanding the sales franchise domestically.


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