Yahoo Finance Doug Ford's buck-a-beer program is pretty much done
The last Ontario brewer to offer buck-a-beer pricing is limiting the discount to long weekends.
Cool Beer Brewing Co. of Etobicoke, Ont. announced plans on Wednesday to hike the price of its blonde lager to $1.25 a bottle on Feb. 11, effectively ending Premier Doug Ford’s promise of cheaper suds in the province.
Cool said while it has “grown significantly” as a result of $1 price per bottle price, the move is needed to sustain the discount on long weekends.
“While there is a hit to the bottom line, this opportunity will (hopefully) generate a discussion with government about reducing the high fees and taxes on beer, and finding ways to make beer more affordable in Ontario,” Kevin Meens, Cool’s corporate development officer, wrote in a press release on Wednesday.
Beer in the province is primarily sold through Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) stores and The Beer Store, a retail chain owned by foreign beer giants Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP), Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (BUD), and Sapporo Breweries Ltd. (2501.T)
Brewers pay shipping and listing fees in order to put their beer on LCBO and Beer Store shelves. Taxes account for about one-third of the price of beer.
Meens is calling for brewers to be allowed to sell beer for less in their own stores.
“Every day our customers ask why they can’t buy Cool Beer cheaper when they buy direct from the brewery,” Meens wrote.
The minimum retail price for beer in the province was $1 from 2005 to 2008, when it was lifted to $1.25. Ford promised to resume the buck-a-beer price floor during his election campaign.
“The days of the government putting its hand in your pocket each time you buy a two-four or six-pack is over,” Ford said in a media release when the change was enacted on Labour Day last year. “Promise made, promise kept.”
Many Ontario craft brewers rebuffed Ford’s push for lower prices, arguing they would have to sacrifice quality, profitability, or both to sell suds for $1 a bottle. The low price proved unpopular. Picton, Ont.-based Barley Days Brewery and President’s Choice offered $1 beer for a limited time.
For Cool, the longest-serving buck-a-beer seller since Ford’s announcement, the problem was keeping pace with demand from thirsty, thrifty Ontario beer lovers.
“We’ve been selling everything we can make,” Meens wrote.
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