Consumers Want Less Regulation Around Retail Sales of Beer, Says Industry Leader
FREDERICTON – The president of the of the New Brunswick Craft Alcohol Producers Association (NBCAPA) says microbrew consumers want less regulation around the retail sales of craft beer, but she says the Maritime provinces need to work together to create a more equitable marketplace.
“It’s the consumers who buy our beer that matter and they told us really loud and clear that they favour less control and more open channels and more access to products,” said Wendy Papadopoulos in an interview with Huddle.
“I think there’s an opportunity to get the Maritime brewers and governments together to figure out a way to support a level playing field for all Maritime brewers. [We need] to support the efforts of independent brewers to stretch boundaries not only when it comes to making craft alcohol but also in the way consumers access beer and other products. That’s ultimately what customers want.”
Alcool NB Liquor (ANBL) recently informed Picaroons Traditional Ales that it could no longer sell Nova Scotia products in its retail stores. Picaroons had been selling bottled and canned beer from several companies since January.
Late last week, the NBCAPA and ANBL released a joint statement on the issue. They restated the current regulations around selling out-of-province beer in craft beer agency stores. They said the 2007 Maritime Beer Accord does not permit this practice.
“The policy never did allow for the sale of other non-New Brunswick products. In March of 2016, the policy for Craft Agency Stores was amended to allow some NB Craft Producers to sell each other’s beers,” said the joint statement issued by Papadopoulos and ANBL CEO Brian Harriman.
“It was a positive step forward and we are continuing to work together with industry to evolve to meet the needs of industry and maximize the economic impact that this industry makes in the province.”
RELATED: NB Liquor Tells Picaroons to Stop Selling N.S. Beer in its Retail Stores
Sean Dunbar, the owner of Picaroons, told Huddle he had made many attempts in the past year to find out if selling Nova Scotia micro-beer alongside New Brunswick ones in its retail outlets was permitted under a trade agreement between the two provinces brokered in 2007.
He says his inquiries to various provincial departments went unanswered until the day the Supreme Court ruled against the New Brunswick man who tried to bring beer and liquor purchased in Quebec in quantities exceeding established limits set by the province.
Dunbar sent another note to several provincial government departments, including ANBL, and he received a prompt reply.
“Look, I’m doing this,” Dunbar says he told them in a note. “Can somebody either tell me to stop, tell me to keep doing it while you investigate and give an interpretation of this trade agreement, or just tell me it’s okay because I don’t want to be sitting here wondering if I or my staff are going to get fined or hauled off or something. The response came back quite quickly saying, ‘Stop.’ So we stopped.”
In an interview last week, Mark Barbour, communications officer with ANBL, didn’t say why no one responded to Dunbar’s inquiries. But he did say that Picaroons signed a contract in 2016 which clearly stated they could only sell beer from microbreweries licensed by the province. “He was fully aware he was not allowed to do this,” said Barbour.
Papadopoulos, a brewmaster and a co-owner of Big Tide Brewing in Saint John, says the decision to issue a joint statement with ANBL is not an endorsement of the status quo. It’s chosen to work with the government on a solution, a stark contrast to the Craft Beer Association of Nova’s Scotia’s public statement condemning the ANBL decision.
“I think there’s room for both approaches when it comes to getting what you want from the government,” says Papadopoulos. “You can’t achieve anything if you don’t work to some extent collaboratively. But then there’s also a time and a place for pressure.”
She says there needs to be consistent rules in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island that make it fair for brewers in all three provinces.
The current dispute is a case in point. New Brunswick craft producers can sell each other’s products in their retail outlets, but this is isn’t the case in Nova Scotia. So if the province allowed Nova Scotia brewers to sell products in New Brunswick stories, the province’s craft brewers wouldn’t be able to do the same in Nova Scotia.
The joint statement issued by ANBL and NBCAPA called for dialogue on addressing inconsistencies like this.
“Each province has a distinct set of rules with regards to alcohol production, sales, and distribution model, but are continuously in discussion on how to move forward and be progressive,” said Papadopoulos and Harriman in the statement.
“ANBL and NBCAPA are inviting craft alcohol producers, governments, alcohol producers’ association, and liquor boards of NB, NS, and PEI to a round table discussion around craft alcohol beverages for the benefit of all customers.”
Ultimately, Papadopoulos says the goal should be creating a marketplace that best serves customers.
“We need, for our customers, to create a level playing field across the Maritime provinces so the consumers can have access to the products that they want,” she said.