WATCH: Why, a year and a half after changes were promised, is it nearly impossible to find a grocery store in B.C. with wine on the shelves? Ted Chernecki reports.
Grocery stores were able to sell B.C. wine alongside food beginning on April 1.
But if you haven’t been able to buy wine with your cheese at a store since, you’re not alone.
“I think the whole system for moving licenses into grocery stores is actually quite complicated. There’s some significant restrictions on what the grocery stores can do. There’s no issuing of new licenses, so it’s not like a supermarket is able to just purchase a license,” says Mark Hicken, a local wine lawyer.
Restrictions on stores being able to get licenses when they’re within a kilometre of a liquor store has had an impact. And while special licenses have been created for retailers to sell only B.C. wines, there’s the potential of litigation from California, who have said such practices would contravene trade rules.
Last week, a Vancouver Urban Fare outlet went public with their frustration over the city of Vancouver denying them a wine store application.
But the city suggests B.C.’s laws contravene city guidelines, and Hickey says he’s not surprised municipalities are being cautious.
“In my opinion, it is not permissible for British Columbia to permit the sale of B.C. only wine on regular supermarket shelves and exclude other country’s products.”
NDP liquor critic David Eby says it’s a frustrating situation for consumers – but it shouldn’t be a surprise.
“It’s hard to point to one of their liquor policy objectives that hasn’t been a failure,” he says.
“Whether it’s been the wholesale price reform that resulted in higher prices for consumers, whether it was happy hour that actually raised prices across the province for people going to bars and restaurants, or whether it’s the wine on the shelves of grocery stores, where people to the grocery store and go ‘well, where is it?'”
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