E-Malt.com News article: Canada, NB: Beer volumes decrease through New Brunswick Liquor stores

Beer sales were up but volumes down through New Brunswick's (NB) liquor retail network in fiscal 2011, Alberta Farmer Express reported on September, 30.

A statistic NB Liquor assigns this decrease to the economy but also to a "lack of innovation in domestic mainstream beer."

On September, 28, the Crown liquor agency booked beer sales of C$229.6 mln for its year ending March 31, 2011, up from C$228.6 mln in 2010. Sales in litres, however, were down 2.9 per cent, which NB Liquor said was "largely attributable to the weak economy."

Apart from that and the "lack of innovation," NB Liquor also noted that, "unlike prior years, there was no major concert event in Moncton or cultural festival on the Acadian Peninsula in (calendar) 2010" to drive beer sales.

Sales of spirits were also up in value at C$92.2 mln, compared to C$91.3 mln in 2010, but were down 0.6 per cent in volume.

"The cocktail trend, well-developed in other parts of the country, has not yet matured in New Brunswick," NB Liquor said in its release.

NB Liquor also booked lower sales in its "other beverages" category, with volumes just over 3 mln litres and sales of C$22.2 mln, both down about three per cent from fiscal 2010.

Across all sales categories, "the global financial crisis, which caused a rise in food and gas prices, left consumers with less disposable income in the year and contributed to the reduction of 100,000 retail transactions compared to 2010," NB Liquor CEO Daniel Allain said on September, 28.

In all, NB Liquor's sales to the public were C$283.6 mln or 68.8 per cent of total sales; sales to agents were C$75.8 mln (18.4 per cent); sales to licensees were C$50.6 mln (12.3 per cent); and sales to others, including duty-free, were C$2.4 mln (0.5 per cent).

The Crown corporation's net earnings for the fiscal year were C$159.4 mln, up one per cent from 2010.


07 October, 2011