Quebec microbrewers ask government to allow them to deliver beer

Beer sales down in Quebec Beer sales are down more than 13 per cent in Quebec but don’t expect prices to drop.

Microbreweries want the right to deliver their beers directly to their customers' homes, so the Association des microbrasseries du Québec (ABQ) is asking the Legault government to change the regulations.

"We want to highlight how nonsensical it is that in 2023, consumers will be able to purchase almost any consumer goods from their homes, but microbreweries don't have access to this distribution channel," said ABQ executive director Marie-Ève Myrand, in an interview ahead of Quebec's Microbrew Week, which begins on April 21.

This is not the first time the association has tried to influence Quebec to obtain this regulatory relaxation. At the height of the health restrictions, the ABQ made this request while its members were hard hit by a drop in traffic.

The Legault government adopted regulatory relaxations in December 2020, allowing restaurants -- and by the same token microbreweries that also sell food -- to deliver alcohol as long as it is accompanied by a meal.

"The ABQ would like to see the regulations relaxed so that beer can be delivered unaccompanied, as is already possible in other Canadian provinces such as Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario," said Myrand. "I would say that things are evolving very slowly with respect to alcoholic beverages in Quebec."

Even if the sanitary relaxation measures have been lifted, Myrand believes the changes requested by the ABQ are still necessary. She points out that online trading is part of consumer habits and that microbrewers want to be where their customers are.

"There is nothing that is not currently found in an online sales channel, whether it is the explosion in the sale of food, clothing or consumer products. You order everything but beer!" said Myrand.

She added that the ban does not, however, affect state-owned companies. The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) offers home delivery service.

"Even the SQDC can do it (deliver online cannabis orders)," she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 20, 2023.