E-Malt.com News article: Canada, Sask: Hotels and other establishments that sell "off-sale" beer to get a bigger discount from the government

The Saskatchewan government is giving more money to hotels and other establishments that sell "off-sale" beer — but not everybody is happy about it, CBC News communicated on March, 24.

Starting April 1, the "discount" that off-sale vendors get when they buy beer from the government will go up more than 60 per cent — from C$1.10-C$1.40 per dozen to C$1.78-C$2.43 per dozen. The measure was announced on March, 23 in the provincial budget.

The exact amount depends on the volumes purchased, but in total, it means about C$5 million more going to the vendors.

While the off-sale outlets will get more money, it's been 18 years since the discount was increased and it's not likely the savings will be passed along to customers, said Tom Mullin, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitality Association.

"The issue is that we're buying it retail, so you're probably not going to see any difference at the off-sale," he said.

However, one off-sale outlet, the Ice House Tavern in Emerald Park west of Regina, said it will be passing along some savings to the beer-loving public.

The savings should work out to about 50 cents a dozen, the outlet said.

Meanwhile, the new discount is not going over well with the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.

It says giving more money to off-sale outlets will come at the expense of licenced restaurants that don't get the discount.

"The beer discount is patently unfair and mars an otherwise positive budget for restaurant operators," association spokeswoman Joyce Reynolds said.

"There is no rationale for favouring one category of licencee over another. No operator should be given a competitive advantage because of a political whim."

There are about 450 off-sale stores in Saskatchewan, with about 90 per cent of them outside of Regina and Saskatoon.



25 March, 2011