Buck A Beer Will Crush Craft Brewers

Donald Doug Ford’s campaign has turned to desparation.

The ‘buck a beer’ campaign illustrates a complete fail in knowledge of how Ontario’s alcohol system works.

Sure, if he wants to crush craft brewers into oblivion, then by all means, run ahead with this plan.

But for the general public, let’s run through a few details, since Ford won’t:

• The only companies that can afford to distribute beer for less than $1 per can are companies like Molson-Coors and AbInBev (which owns Labatt’s)
• As hinted, these companies are no longer owned by Canadians – they’re international conglomerates
• They actually ENJOY the government monopoly because it protects their access to market
• Most craft producers can’t make beer for less than $1.5 per can.  Allowing for 100% markup and then the LCBO market, we get craft products in the range of $4-$6 per can.
• Changing distribution won’t benefit any of the companies above, except possibly the large producers who already have locked-in contracts and exposure with the major grocery retailers

To sum up, reducing prices result in two actions: lousier beer from already lousy sources and killing job-creating independent businesses that won’t be able to afford this price level.

On top of that, it creates a MASSIVE deficit of about $1.5 billion in lost revenue.

Rob Ford promises lots, but without a plan or details, he CANNOT be trusted.