California Wine Industry Trade Concerns Unfounded
For Immediate Release:
KELOWNA, BC – British Columbia is in full compliance with international trade regulations regarding the sale of BC wine in grocery stores, according to the BC Wine Institute.
“California wine industry representatives are misinformed if they believe BC is working outside trade regulations,” says Josie Tyabji, chair of the BC Wine Institute in response to a letter sent to Premier Christy Clark by the California Wine Institute challenging the BC government’s announcement that it would release a limited number of new licences to sell 100 per cent BC wine in-aisle in grocery.
In addition, the store-within-store grocery model will provide all liquor retailers the opportunity to move into grocery stores, not just BC VQA Wine Stores.
BC VQA Wine Store licences, which are limited to the sale of exclusively BC VQA Wine, were grandfathered into trade agreements.
Tyabji assured that the Province has done its due diligence in working to meet consumer requests made during John Yap’s Liquor Policy Review, as well as considered the business elements of existing retailers and producers.
“Government has done a good job of reviewing the best options for meeting the needs of consumers and the existing liquor industry and continues to make sound decisions to remove red tape as we move forward with regulatory reforms,” she said.
BC Wine Institute CEO Miles Prodan says both new grocery models are about meeting consumer needs, along with social responsibility.
“BC wine on qualified grocery shelves, along with the earlier announced store-within-store model for other liquor and spirits, gives industry the flexibility to provide consumers the accessibility they’d asked for,” says Prodan.
“We heard similar trade concerns this summer when government announced BC liquor would be available for sale at farmers’ markets – I’m not convinced increased consumer convenience for BC wine in grocery stores is as much a trade agreement issue as it is about others wanting to protect their market share,” Prodan concludes.
According to the BCLDB, for the year ended March 31, 2014, BC VQA Wine made up nearly 15 per cent of the wine volume sold in the province, with 48 per cent import wine of which 11 per cent was from the United States.
