Wholesale liquor pricing will go a long way to help revive B.C. restaurant industry

Published February 23, 2021

The province’s move to permanently allow licensed restaurants and drinking places to purchase beer, wine and spirits at wholesale prices fulfills a longstanding recommendation from Restaurants Canada.

VANCOUVER — Restaurants Canada welcomes today’s announcement from the B.C. government confirming that the province will permanently allow licensed hospitality businesses to purchase beer, wine and spirits at wholesale prices as promised.

“This move will go a long way to help British Columbia’s hard hit restaurant sector transition from survival to revival,” said Mark von Schellwitz, Restaurants Canada Vice President, Western Canada. “I want to thank Premier Horgan, Attorney General Eby and Public Safety Minister Farnworth for stepping up and following through on our longstanding recommendation to make wholesale liquor pricing a reality for bars and restaurants. This leveling of the playing field between the province’s retail and hospitality sectors is needed now more than ever.”

Policy change fulfills key ask from Raise the Bar report

Every two years, Restaurants Canada releases its Raise the Bar report on liquor policies impacting foodservice and hospitality businesses across the country. The 2019 Raise the Bar report called on British Columbia to follow through on the recommendations of the province’s Business Technical Advisory Panel (BTAP) and finally make wholesale pricing available to all types of licensed establishments.

Restaurants Canada and BTAP have been working closely with B.C. policymakers to bring about this critical liquor policy change among other reforms.

Learn more about all the ways that Restaurants Canada is advocating for better conditions for B.C. bars and restaurants: https://info.restaurantscanada.org/raise-the-bar-british-columbia

About Restaurants Canada

Restaurants Canada is a national, not-for-profit association advancing the potential of Canada’s diverse and dynamic foodservice industry through member programs, research, advocacy, resources and events. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, British Columbia’s foodservice sector was a more than $16 billion industry, directly employing nearly 193,000 people, providing the province’s number one source of first jobs and serving 3.4 million customers every day. British Columbia’s foodservice industry has since lost tens of thousands of jobs and is on track to lose billions in annual sales due to the impacts of the ongoing economic and public health crisis.

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