According to the Convenience Store Alliance, Nova Scotia convenience store owners are looking to pop the top on the lack of alcohol in their stores.
In an interview with Global News on Wednesday, the alliance said that they had preliminary talks with the province earlier this year, with plans for another meeting in early 2024.
Currently, in Nova Scotia, beer, wine, and spirits are sold at provincially-owned liquor stores. Some beer, wine and spirits are available at private wine and specialty stores, and manufacturer retail stores.
After an announcement in Ontario on Wednesday that beer, wine, cider, coolers, seltzers and other drinks will be allowed to be sold in participating convenience stores and grocery stores, the alliance is asking for the chance to sell locally made alcoholic beverages in their stores.
“We know that for NSLC (Nova Scotia Liqour Corporation), it’s been hard to get shelf space for locally made products,” Mike Hammoud, the vice president for the Atlantic Canadian Convenience Store Alliance.
It’s welcoming news for the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia, which says that getting shelf space at NSLC can be difficult due to the performance requirement for holding shelf space, coupled with the number of competing breweries in the province.
Andrew Tanner believes it would be something that would help grow the industry.
“It would be a great,” told Tanner, who serves as the president of the Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia. “Distribution and channels of distribution are our biggest challenge, and we want more of it, and it could increase sales and increase revenue. ”
When asked, the minister responsible for the NSLC declined an interview. In a statement to Global News, the province said it has no plans of introducing alcoholic products beyond NSLC stores.
“While we’re not looking to change our current model of Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation being the retailer and regulator of alcohol products, we’ll monitor Ontario’s experience closely,” read spokesperson Steven Stewart from the Department of Finance.
The department says that alcohol is already widely available through the NSLC store and manufacturer retail stores.
– With files from the Canadian Press
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