Small grocers thirsting for fair alcohol sales
Independent operators worried that big chains will capture all retail licences
. . .When it comes to selling beer and wine in supermarkets, Joe Virgona pictures his Fiesta Farms store on Christie St. as a destination point for aficionados of craft brews.
But whether that comes to pass depends on details in the upcoming provincial budget and how much of the action goes to independent grocers such as Fiesta Farms, a short drive from Loblaws and Sobeys stores on Dupont St.
“I hope we don’t get shut out . . . I’d be damaged badly,” Virgona said Tuesday. “It’s about holding on to our customers.”
The Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers is now in talks with Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government. The group is thirsting after a fair share of alcohol sales, amid concerns that since only 300 of the province’s 1,500 supermarkets will win the licences, the auction will favour deep-pocketed chains.
“I’d love to work with the small, local craft beer producers,” Virgona added, speaking from the 119-employee store he opened in 1989.
He’s already picked out a spot — in the section for seasonal products to the right of the front entry doors.
“It would fit in with everything else I’m doing here. One of the things we heavily support is working with local producers of all sorts of foods, getting to know them.”
As Finance Minister Charles Sousa makes the final decisions on his budget expected later this month or ear- ly next, the federation has been stepping up its efforts.
Representing everything from Fiesta Farms, Longo’s and Pusateri’s to others in smaller cities and towns, the association wants a minimum of 15 per cent of alcohol sales licences set aside for independents — the same as their market share of the grocery business.
Better yet, they prefer sales of beer and wine in all supermarkets so there are no “winners and losers,” said association president Tom Barlow. He fears that independents would be in the latter category if passed over.
“The government should be staying away from store size and an expensive auction,” he told the Star.
“That works for a large corporate store. It doesn’t work for an independent who has to figure out how to pay . . . Our members are very nervous.”
The points were made in a recent meeting with former TD Bank chief executive Ed Clark, who is heading an expert panel helping the cashstrapped government decide how to wring more money out of provincial assets such as the alcohol distribution system and Hydro One.
“We were prepared for more pushback, but they were open to listening,” said Barlow, who is concerned that independents passed over for licences could end up on the ropes.
Given their penchant for stocking more local products, that would be bad news for an Ontario agri-food industry Wynne’s government has been touting, he added.
Profit margins in the grocery industry are between 1 and 2 per cent, which means independents don’t have much room for error as they try to keep pace with competitors, said Barlow.
In place of auction fees to raise money for the government as it tries to bankroll transit improvements and other infrastructure projects, the federation called for supermarkets selling alcohol to be charged a percentage fee on their sales of beer and wine.