Grocery stores have the opportunity to stock their shelves with wine, but Oliver grocers, including Super-Valu and Buy-Low Foods have no immediate plans to do so. Here, Rubye Dorosz empties a pail of grapes during last year’s harvest in the South Okanagan.
Photo by Richard McGuire
BC grocery stores eager to get into the liquor trade will soon have the chance to bid on six licences to sell wine and cider, but none of Oliver’s stores appear ready to take the plunge.
The BC government recently announced a series of online auctions, which will start in late April and give grocers the chance to bid on an opportunity to apply for one of the licences to sell 100 per cent B.C. wine, cider and saké. According to a recent press release, the eventual goal is to make 18 licences available.
Last year, after an extensive overhaul of its liquor laws, the provincial government began allowing grocery stores to sell wine and cider. The rules came with some regulations and restrictions, and since the announcement relatively few stores in the province have started selling wine.
Dan Bregg, the president of Buy-Low Foods, told the Chronicle his company hasn’t made any decisions about selling wine in Oliver, but will “consider how it may fit with our operations” after it has more information from the government.
“We would also need to consider the specifics of our lease and be respectful of our neighbouring businesses in the Southwinds Crossing shopping centre,” he said.
A representative at Oliver Super-Valu also indicated the store has no immediate plans to pursue one of the licences.
But while it doesn’t appear that Oliver’s grocers will be stocking wine in the near future, Kim Pullen of Church and State Wines is still very worried for many of Oliver’s wineries.
Pullen is a spokesperson for the B.C. Alliance for Smart Liquor Retail Choice, and he says more licences, combined with new regulations establishing minimum wine prices in the province, signal dark times for the province’s small- and medium-sized wineries.
In a policy directive released to its staff Feb. 23, the BC Liquor Control and Licensing Branch established new minimum prices for liquor sold in licensee retail stores.
The policy means that, as of March 1, retailers will be able to sell a bottle of wine for a minimum of $6.44.
Pullen is concerned that grocery stores getting into the wine business will mean more distribution for the large producers that are able to meet grocery stores’ low price points.
He explained that, while independent liquor stores have a breadth of knowledge and expertise, grocery stores aim simply to offer goods at the lowest price point. With price as a primary focus, big wineries that produce their product for less are at an advantage and will likely get most grocers’ business.
Pullen thinks this will only be exacerbated by the new six-dollar minimum price.
“I’m dumbfounded that they actually lowered the minimum price. Who’s that going to benefit?” he asked.
“There isn’t a small, even I think a medium-sized winery, that can make wine for [that price].”
“What we’re seeing everywhere is complete evidence of unequal bargaining power coming into play, and I have no idea why the government has gone this way. The small and medium wineries haven’t been asking for this stuff, and it won’t benefit them,” he said.
He said that in order for small- and medium-sized wineries to benefit from the change, rules would need to be put in place to help guarantee more shelf space for small operations, and the minimum price would probably have to be raised.
Pullen said he is disappointed because wine in grocery stores can be a good thing, “just not the way it has been done.”
The Liquor Control and Licensing Branch did not respond to questions by the Chronicle’s print deadline.
By Trevor Nichols
