'People are going to be shocked': NSLC hikes prices on beer, wine and spirits

Regular shoppers at Nova Scotia liquor stores faced significant price hikes Monday on beer, wine and spirits.

Retiree John McCracken was picking up his usual bottle of wine when he spoke to CTV News outside the NSLC store on Joseph Howe Drive in Halifax.

"I bought last week, the same bottle was $2 less,” said McCracken. “We're talking like $15, $16 bottle of wine. So not high-end wine.”

"If you go into that liquor store right now, people are going to be shocked."

Workers were replacing pricing signs in all stores on Monday, but officials insist the overall increase only amounts to about 3 per cent.

"It has to do with overall costs to our supplier community. So that could be anything from freight, transportation, commodities costs, things like glass or aluminum, or other commodities like barley -- all of those things are seeing an increase in price, and that's what factoring in to the overall price increase," said Allison Himmelman, a spokesperson for the Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation (NSLC).

She says the increase is below the cost of inflation.

Last month, the corporation reported a healthy earnings increase of 6.6 per cent.

On April 1, federal excise taxes are set to increase another 6.3 per cent -- the biggest increase in 40 years. 

"The excise tax is actually just one factor that goes into our overall prices here at the NSLC," said Himmelman.

“And it's actually a very small factor because not all suppliers choose to pass on that excise tax to their retail product prices."

Still, some local bars and restaurants say the hikes will have to be passed on to customers, which will hurt business.

"There's no doubt, yeah, we can't absorb it," said Dimo Georgakakos, owner of the iconic Gus' Pub & Grill in Halifax's north end.

"We've been absorbing so many things, and in the bar business we're a stoic bunch, and we just sort of put our heads down and keep doing it. And now, they just sort of do that and we've got to pass it on and it's going to make customers come here less," said Georgakakos, son of the bar's founder.

He and others are still recovering from lost business in the pandemic, and worry many customers have gotten used to staying home.

"In general, things are not going to get back to the way they were," said Georgakakos. "It's going to be different."

NSLC notes that increased revenue from price adjustments is also shared with producers, including Nova Scotia wineries, brewers and distillers.