It was reliably reported the other day that Ted Moroz, president of Ontario’s Brewers’ Retail Inc., that operates the Beer Stores, has reported making a mistake to his foreign owners. It seems there was a shortfall of about $13 million of the usual $400 million, or so, in revenue last year. And why he would not have planned for this shortfall is the critical question?
The real question is why did it come as a surprise? At a time when the government was hustling Loblaws and other large grocery outlets to sell beer, why would the Beer Store not realize that a part of their potential retail sales were leaving the nest?
What was really a surprise is that Moroz claimed that the drop was only $13 million. It is obvious that the constantly increasing prices, that are set by Brewers’ Retail, are covering up more than a simple shortfall on cashflow.
And this was at a time when the LCBO and the grocers were only allowed to sell singles or six packs. If you wanted a better priced, larger package, your only choice was the Beer Store.
It also pays to remember that Brewers’ Retail is a giant in the recycling business. With all alcoholic beverage containers being recycled through the one retail operation, I would really like to know more of the detail in the business’ cash flow. You can say it is a private company all you like but it is still a monopoly.
This is one of the real reasons that the threats from the foreign Brewers, who own about 90 per cent of the beer production in Ontario, are such a joke. They say they will sue the government if it wants to sell more of their beer in convenience stores. Does a dog bite the hand that feeds it?
And how many companies do you know that have their prices protected by the government to prevent retailers from having weekly specials on the beer aisle?
Doug Ford tells us that he does not drink. He just knows that Ontario beer drinkers have waited for a very long time to get even with those bastards who have controlled our beer. Go get ’em, tiger!
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Copyright 2020 © Peter Lowry
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