The Province of New Brunswick has decided to lower the prices of some popular beer, with the exclusion of craft beer.
Last year, NB Liquor was offering four 15-packs of beer for $75. It will now cost $36 for 24 cans – that’s $1.50 a can. However, this change is permanent.
“Lessons learned from last year's promotions reveal that this pack size and price point is one which our shoppers will see value in buying," the Crown corporation said in a statement.
NB Liquor will be investing $7 million of its own capital to make the new pricing part of a sustainable plan. This will include similar beer brands included in last year's sale - Budweiser, Alpine, Moosehead, Molson and Coors.
Stephen Dixon, the President of NB Craft Alcohol Producers Association, says NB Liquor didn’t give him a heads up about the new pricing.
“NB Liquor's going to take a $7 million cut that's going to market and promote the macrobrewers. That's fine, if that's the business decision that they want to make, but maybe they could reduce the price of our beer on their dime,” says Dixon, also a co-founder of Grimross Brewing.
Dixon says small breweries have had a huge impact on the local economy. They hire local, buy local ingredients and raise families in the province.
“When you consider the fact that the price of milk actually went up one per cent this year, and we're able to reduce the cost of beer for people, are we sending the right message?” says Anthony Knight, CEO of the NB Medical Society. “I know NB liquor doesn't control the price of milk, but as a society are we sending the right message?”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown
