Food & Drink

From our President & CEO

- GEORGE SOLEAS President & CEO, LCBO

Dear Friends,

Much as we love the great Canadian winter, spring is always welcome. Warmer weather is just over the horizon and friends and families will be gathering for Easter, Passover and all the other special holidays this season brings. At the LCBO, our shelves are full of products to help you celebrate, including the release of over 100 new Ready-to-Drink offerings, a category that’s always rich with innovative ideas and flavours.

I am proud to report that the LCBO’s Spirit of Sustainabi­lity platform (SoS) goes from strength to strength. Thank you for your generous donations to our holiday campaign: $6 million was raised for Ontario’s Regional Children’s Hospitals and Campfire Circle. On the environmen­tal side, our partnershi­p with Tree Canada has also been hugely successful and will continue this year. To date, the LCBO has supported the planting of over 244,000 trees in Ontario, helping to green communitie­s in need, re-establish urban and rural forests, increase the numbers of schoolyard trees and build a more sustainabl­e province in the years to come. A special call-out goes to the over 200 LCBO employees who volunteere­d their time and planted more than 1,700 trees together.

Meanwhile, March saw the launch of our annual integrated Equity campaign, highlighti­ng Internatio­nal Women’s Day by fundraisin­g for the Women’s College Hospital Foundation. Its mission is to revolution­ize healthcare and help provide equitable access for women and marginaliz­ed communitie­s across the province. We will be turning our Good Partner Spotlight on nine leading women across the beverage alcohol industry who are forging new paths, spurring innovation, and opening up the spirits, wine and beer industries to new approaches. It is a privilege to showcase their work.

Lastly, I would like to acknowledg­e the upcoming expansion of convenienc­e and choice in Ontario’s beverage alcohol marketplac­e, and what that means to the LCBO. We welcome the opportunit­y to be the exclusive wholesaler of beverage alcohol in Ontario, and we remain fully committed to offering a best-in-class shopping experience to all our customers.

Wishing you a safe and enjoyable springtime,

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