Latest news with #craftbreweries
CTV News
23-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Craft brewers warn red tape could sour plans for cross-Canada beer sales
Pouring into new markets - and the cups of millions of new customers - is on the table for Canada's craft breweries, but some business owners are raising more questions than toasts. A federal agreement is set to allow alcohol producers to sell straight to consumers in most provinces by May 2026, tearing down long standing interprovincial trade barriers. All but one province, Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as the Yukon are on board. Some brewers, however, say the trouble of moving beer across borders outweighs the benefits. 'It's probably not something that we would look to offer in the near future, based on the logistical challenges and the costs of shipping,' said Jared Murphy, co-owner of Lone Oak Brewing Co. in P.E.I. Beer is heavy, shipping in bulk is pricey and ideally it should be kept cold. For small producers, those are bigger problems, Murphy said. However, the plan could create opportunities for transport companies, said Christine Comeau, executive director of the Canadian Craft Brewers Association. She doubts it will move the needle if costs stay high. 'I don't think that it's going to be a huge kind of market opportunity for us,' she added. Comeau said Canadian craft brewers are already struggling with higher import volumes, tariffs and rising costs for cans, cardboard and transport. 'Any kind of break or opportunity that they can have to have increased market access or reduced markups is something that we're in favour of.' Even if freight issues are solved, each province still follows its own tax rules. Regulatory boards tend to protect and favour local businesses, Murphy said. 'If you are in New Brunswick and you're looking to sell alcohol, they're more likely to create advantageous taxation structures for local producers,' Murphy said. 'This is a symbolic move in trade more than anything else,' said Frederic Gionet, Atlantic director at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business. He added that if red tape can be reduced, Canada could apply the same solutions to other industries, as the country faces a trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. In an emailed statement to CTV News, P.E.I. Finance Minister Jill Burridge said there are 'many administrative details to work out' and 'a lot of complexities involved in changing regulated spaces,' but she is 'optimistic about meeting the May 2026 deadline.' For now, the beer at Lone Oak stays local as the rules get a sober review.
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- Telegraph
The perfect holiday in Northumberland, England's quietest county
Northumberland 's trump card is that it's England 's least-populated county. All that space, and so few people. And it's not just any old space. Its coastline is an unfolding drama of runway-flat beaches, don't-mess-with-me castles and islands that scream with wildlife. Inland are the sheep-dotted moorlands, quiet valleys and soft rounded hills of the Northumberland National Park which also encloses the huge playground of Kielder Forest and Water. Striding across the south of the county is the mighty frontier of the Roman Empire: Hadrian's Wall. There are market towns and fishing villages, but nothing so brash as cities, bright lights and shopping malls. True, there are grand houses and grand gardens, but often tucked away. Country inns, craft breweries and seafood specialists, plus a growing number of seriously high-end restaurants, tempt appetites. But it's the ease with which peace can be found, among its varied attractions, that gives Northumberland a quiet edge over other regions. For more Northumberland inspiration, see our guides to the region's best hotels, restaurants, pubs, beaches and things to do. In this guide: How to spend the perfect day in Northumberland How to spend the perfect week in Northumberland When to go Where to stay How to get there and how to get around Know before you go How to spend the perfect day Morning Unless Roman history is your passion – in which case, make for Hadrian's Wall – head for the coast to get the best all-round experience. Start a few miles inland, at Alnwick, specifically at Barter Books, one of the country's largest second-hand bookshops (in the former railway station) and a good spot to get a jolly good breakfast, from bacon butties to smashed avocado. Don't linger too long over the bookshelves before walking the 10 minutes to Alnwick Garden. You don't need to be a plant person to enjoy this vast contemporary creation, from its bamboo labyrinth and water cascade to its 3,000-strong rose garden and deliciously deadly poison garden.
Yahoo
15-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Maine governor describes how tariffs are hurting her state's economy
In an interview on Rosemary Barton Live, Maine Gov. Janet Mills says tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump on Canadian imports are "just a tax." Mills says industries from construction to craft breweries are affected.
CTV News
13-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Maine governor calls Trump tariffs ‘a big tax heist'
Maine Gov. Janet Trafton Mills speaks at the 2024 summer meeting of the National Governors Association, Thursday, July 11, 2024, in Salt Lake City. The current tariffs straining the long-standing trade relationship between Canada and the United States are nothing more than a 'tax on American people, according to the governor of Maine. 'The president is taking trillions of dollars in so-called tariffs that are really taxes importing into the putting into the federal budget,' Gov. Janet Mills told CTV News Atlantic's Todd Battis. 'People are waking up and understanding that this is a big tax heist, as the Wall Street Journal described it.' Mills says the tariffs are impacting Maine's 176 craft breweries, its forestry sector and the seafood industry. 'Putting tariffs on lobster and seafood when these lobsters don't know if they're a Maine lobster or Canadian lobster, they go back and forth to be processed,' Mills says. 'It's really unfair and irrational.' Next week Mills and other New England governors will meet in Boston to discuss trade and tariffs with six Canadian premiers. Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healy extended the invitation to the premiers last month. Mills plans to reinforce the longstanding relationship her state has with the various provinces and discuss creative ways the two sides can maintain economic stability amid the trade war. She will also tell Canadian leaders her intentions to continue pressuring congressional delegations in the northeastern United States to 'take back their power' and stop 'harming our deep seated relationship with Canada.' Speaking with reporters Thursday, New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt said she will be looking to encourage the New England governors to make it clear to the White House how tariffs are damaging both sides of the border. 'We can get those messages through to the people that we hope can influence the president,' says Holt. 'To move off of his 50 per cent tariff on aluminum and his tariff on autos, and land in a place where we have the kind of free and open trade that we've had before.' 'I've been talking with small businesses up and down the coast and interior Maine who've always had friends and family come from Canada to visit in the summer,' says Mills. 'Now they're canceling reservations, and I hate to see that happen.' The Maine government has been posting signs across Maine saying 'Welcome' or 'Bienvenue Canadiens!' It's a relationship that goes far beyond just business. 'Our families, cultures, cuisine, languages are all entwined,' Mills says, noting her family originally came from Pugwash, N.S. 'Especially in Maine with a 611-mile border between [us], New Brunswick, Quebec, and the Atlantic provinces.'
CBC
15-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Ontario to spend hundreds of millions to boost alcohol sector
Ontario plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars boosting the province's alcohol sector, including programs to support grape farmers, wineries, distilleries and craft breweries. The province will spend $175 million over five years as part of a new program designed to boost the number of Ontario grapes in blended wine. The province said the program will eventually double the percentage of Ontario grapes, "leading to the purchase of thousands of additional tonnes of Ontario grapes from farmers." The government is also making changes to help support the recently liberalized alcohol marketplace, with more than $250 million over the next two years to make it more competitive — and make booze more affordable. The changes include a tax rate cut for spirits at on-site distillery retail stores and a reduction in the microbrewer basic tax. Last year the province liberalized rules on alcohol sales, allowing booze to be sold in convenience and grocery stores. The alcohol modernization plan has gone "amazing," said Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy. The new supports are part of the budget tabled Thursday that will see a $14.6-billion deficit as the province spends money to counteract the trade war with U.S. President Donald Trump. "This is a really big boost into world class spirits and alcohol here in Ontario and we're just levelling the playing field and reducing taxes and fees," Bethlenfalvy said. More than 4,000 convenience stores were granted licences last September to sell beer, wine, cider and coolers, a figure that the province says has jumped to more than 5,000 such licences. In late October, the province implemented the final phase of its liberalization policy when it allowed any grocer to sell booze. About 400 stores had signed up at the time and that number has since jumped to more than 1,000. Alcohol regime 'going extremely well,' minister says The Liquor Control Board of Ontario, the province's main alcohol seller and wholesaler, has seen revenues drop over the past few years from $2.45 billion in 2022-23 to projected revenues of $1.85 billion in 2025-26. Officials point to the continued downward trend in alcohol consumption across the province as the primary driver for decreased revenues. But the province is bullish on the Crown corporation, projecting annual revenues to reach more than $2.4 billion by 2027-28, "driven by its expanded role as a wholesaler in the modern marketplace." "I think it's going extremely well," Bethlenfalvy said of the new alcohol regime. "We're hearing from convenience stores that this has been a game changer. The revenues are up, they're hiring more people, that's a win for consumers who are getting more choices." Province to change look of cannabis stores The province also plans to change the look of cannabis stores by allowing businesses to take down their window coverings so long as pot products are kept out of view from the outside. The changes are being done to help the province prepare for revenue streams within Canada that will soon open up. Ford's government recently tabled legislation to get rid of all internal trade barriers and has signed memorandums of understanding with Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Manitoba to allow direct-to-consumer alcohol sales. The premier wants to sign bilateral deals with every province and territory that will further expand the customer base for Ontario producers. New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles said the province has its priorities wrong in the budget. "There is more in here about alcohol sales and alcohol generally and there's not one mention of child care," she said. "There's more in here about those issues than almost anything else."
