SASKATOON -- While U.S. booze makes a comeback on store shelves in Canada, local distillers say selling liquor domestically is still a challenge for them. Saskatoon’s Black Fox Farms and Distillery can only sell products in three provinces – Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba. “I hate to say it, but it has been easier to ship into other countries than it has been to ship into other provinces,” said the distillery’s co-owner, Barb Stefanyshyn-Cote. About 20 per cent of their products are shipped overseas to places in the United Kingdom, China, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The rest is sold domestically across the Prairies. Stefanyshyn-Cote says that leaves a large part of the Canadian market untapped. “If those markets open up, there is huge potential for us to expand our business,” she said. Interprovincial trade barriers are holding back the expansion, Stefanyshyn-Cote said. Rules around registration, labelling, testing and pricing vary from province to province, which makes it difficult to get products on store shelves. Fulfilling the patchwork of requirements also results in added paperwork and extra costs, according to Stefanyshyn-Cote. “It is difficult to get into other retail stores in other provinces, and it is difficult to get into the hotels, restaurants and bars,” she told CTV News. Recent changes allow producers to sell alcohol products directly to consumers across the country. Stefanyshyn-Cote believes that will provide a “significant” opportunity for their whisky and gin sales, but it requires additional paperwork and costs. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) says it welcomes the direct-to-consumer option as a step forward, though it will only attract a small percentage of customers. Keyli Loeppky, senior director of interprovincial affairs for the CFIB, said producers would be better off if alcohol was added to the Canadian Mutual Recognition Agreement. “If alcohol was added to that agreement, it would essentially allow a product that is produced in one province and approved in one province to be approved anywhere across Canada without the additional fees, the markups, the registration, the certification, the labeling,” she said. “It would take that out of the equation and make it easier to get products on shelves.” A Canadian made process Stefanyshyn-Cote and her husband were farmers before they opened the distillery in 2015. From the fruit bushes to the golden grain fields, about 95 per cent of the ingredients used in their award-winning whisky and gin are grown at Black Fox Farms. “We do everything from crop to connoisseur,” Stefanyshyn-Cote said. “We plant the grain, we harvest it, store it and then we do our own mash, fermentation and distillation.” Beginning the whisky-making process with 100 per cent raw materials classifies Black Fox as a type one distillery. “Saskatchewan is known around the world for brewing some of the best grain for bread and for pasta and for cookies,” she said. “Why shouldn’t we be able to make the best whisky?” Stefanyshyn-Cote said the emphasis on creating a Canadian-grown product happened long before the U.S. trade tensions. A few years ago, they even purchased Canadian oak barrels to age some of their whisky. “We felt that it was really important that we use the ingredients that we have here and produce something that can only be produced here,” she said. The distillery has seen a “noticeable” increase in domestic sales since the trade war influenced locals to buy more Canadian products, even though Saskatchewan was one of the only province’s still selling American liquor. Stefanyshyn-Cote hopes the sentiment continues even after U.S. booze is put back on shelves across the country. “I think what they are finding is Canadians make some pretty darn good products, and now they are happy to support us,” she said.
