Wineries hope to sell more in B.C. to offset losses from Alberta ban
Okanagan vintners to seek more shelf space in gov’t liquor stores, supermarkets
Okanagan winemakers will ask for more shelf space in government liquor stores and supermarkets to make up for Alberta’s boycott of their products.
“We’re hoping to get better access to the B.C. market,” said Miles Prodan, president of the Pentictonbased B.C. Wine Institute.
The agency representing the Valley’s wine industry also hopes the B.C. government will activate so-called “dormant” liquor licences, allowing more retail outlets to open in the months ahead.
“If we can get greater capacity in government-owned liquor stores, as well as see more retail stores opening, that will go some way to offsetting the losses we’re likely to see in Alberta,” Prodan said.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley has announced a boycott of all B.C. wines in retaliation for B.C.’s opposition to the federally approved expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby.
The government-owned liquor wholesaler in Alberta, which has a monopoly in the province, bought $70 million worth of B.C. wine last year for distribution to privately owned stores.
Between 10 and 15 per cent of all B.C.-made wine is sold in Alberta, making it the second biggest market after B.C. itself. The third biggest market, Ontario, accounts for only three per cent of sales.
The ban means B.C. wines will disappear from Alberta stores as the current inventory runs out. About 30 per cent of all wine sold in Alberta is produced or bottled in B.C., the Wine Institute says.
In a statement, B.C. Premier John Horgan described Alberta’s boycott of B.C. wine as a “threatening position.”
Horgan reaffirmed what he said was the right of the B.C. government to oppose the pipeline expansion until more research is done into how well a possible spill of diluted bitumen could be cleaned up in coastal waters.
The Green party, the NDP’s junior partner in a coalition government, flatly opposes the pipeline expansion as currently conceived. The federal Liberal government has said the pipeline will go ahead because it is in the national interest.
“It is outrageous and petty that Rachel Notley is using B.C. wine producers in her attempt to start a trade war,” Robert Stupka, Green party candidate in the Feb. 14 Kelowna West byelection, said in a statement.
Ben Stewart, BC Liberal candidate in the byelection, blamed Horgan for the trade war with Alberta in his own news release.
“The premier has stumbled into this reckless trade war with Alberta. He’s the one who pushed the wine sector into the line of fire, and our craft brewery industry looks to be the next target,” Stewart’s release said.