The B.C. government plans to change regulations to allow craft distillers to sell direct to the public, restaurants and private liquor stores as long as their product is made 100% from B.C. ingredients, the deputy premier has told Business in Vancouver.
Rich Coleman, B.C.'s minister in charge of alcohol regulation, told BIV that the changes should take effect within two months.
Selling to the public directly at a winery or a distillery would be the owner's most lucrative revenue stream.
Winery owners who sell a bottle of wine for $25 at their gift shop net back about $21. They often sell that same bottle through British Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch (BCLDB) stores for $30 and, after BCLDB mark-up fees and taxes are subtracted, only yield back $10.
Imported alcohol that is enhanced in B.C. would not qualify, Coleman stressed.
"That would no different than if I told wineries that they can now import juice from France or Australia, bottle it here and call it B.C. wine," Coleman said. "That will never be the intent of the program."
Island Spirits Distillers owner Peter Kimmerly told BIV in July that he wanted to enjoy the same tax status as wineries and to be able to sell direct to consumers.
NDP leader Adrian Dix then issued a press release on September 12 calling for the same changes.
