Some seven months after pulling American alcohol off the shelves at its liquor stores, New Brunswick has been trying to sell it off at discounted prices to recoup a portion of the investment.
New Brunswick joined provinces across the country this past spring to stop selling U.S. alcohol products in response to the ongoing Canada-U.S. trade war.
While agents and licensee stores were still able to offer the products, about $3.4 million worth of alcohol still remain.
With expiry dates looming, NB Liquor is now selling it off cheap at the Salisbury depot store.
“It’s just… about recovering the investment we’ve made and really being able to continue to find deficiencies in our warehouse and get those products moving,” said Lori Stickles, the Crown corporation’s CEO and president.
Stickles says staff have been working through pallets in the warehouse to sort and inventory the products. In the interest of time, they’ve decided to start selling the items while that sorting process is ongoing.
“It’s kind of an exciting, almost little Easter egg hunt for our customers because there’ll be new products coming as we continue to sort through the products that have been in the warehouse,” she said.
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While sales “started off a bit slow,” she there’s been an uptick in interest. “We’ve been seeing customers coming from other provinces to buy at Salisbury, so the word is out.”
American products were pulled off the shelves at Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. retail outlets back in March as well. A spokesperson for NSLC says it continues to store approximately $14 million worth of U.S. products.
In a statement to Global News, Premier Tim Houston’s office says its “non-tariff measures will remain in place for the time being.”
“We are open to reviewing them should it be helpful to Team Canada when negotiating a longer term trade deal with the U.S.” the statement says.
Over the summer, Quebec set off a firestorm when it said its liquor board may have to destroy $300,000 worth of American products in storage that were set to expire. The province’s finance minister later said the products would be donated instead.
“Some provinces like Nova Scotia are leaving it in storage, others are attempting to get it back through various means like sending it back to the distributor, others are holding on to it or others a merely liquidating,” said Ron Marcolin, divisional vice-president with Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.
He says American alcohol producers are feeling the impact of Canada’s cold shoulder. Meanwhile, he’s noticed some Canadian products have been given the opportunity to flourish.
“I do feel that the research and development of various spirits in Canada is alive and well and this has pushed it into looking at alternatives,” he said.
“We have flavours on the shelf now, and the development of new liquors in Canada is a very positive thing.”
In August, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States called for the return of American products to stores. The mid-year report from the same council found U.S. booze exports to Canada are down a staggering 85 per cent in the second quarter compared to the year before, falling below US$10 million.
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