BURST
Some Lower Mainland restaurants and bars are sending staff as far away as the Fraser Valley in search of specific products because of the public-sector strike that has shut down the province’s liquor distribution and half of provincial liquor stores.
According to Bo Chen with B.C.’s Alliance of Beverage Licensees, many in the hospitality industry are “rolling up their sleeves even further to really make sure that they can keep their businesses going, keep their staff still employed, and just keep everything still running very smoothly.”
“It’s challenging having to make so many different pivots,” he said, adding that some are even driving up to the western edges of the Okanagan to restock specialty items unavailable nearby.
“It’s nice to see that the industry has been pretty resilient and trying to pivot where they can in this situation.”
Chen met Friday with Agriculture Minister Lana Popham, who oversees B.C.’s liquor and cannabis, and as the liquor distribution shutdown heads into its second weekend.
“It was good and very encouraging that we had an opportunity to meet, to discuss and to be heard as an industry and small business,” said Chen, whose organization represents liquor, hospitality, and private cannabis and liquor retail.
The meeting came the same day the B.C. General Employees Union announced workers at another 20 government liquor and cannabis stores were joining the strike, meaning 100 of just under 200 provincial stores are strike bound. Chen said Popham did not give any indication as to the inner workings of the negotiations between the province and the BCGEU.
In face of the supply challenges, Chen said many local businesses and bars have struck up closer relationships with local producers.
“That’s the one nice silver lining out of this situation is, I know we are seeing folks switching over more to craft local brands where they can, and be able to showcase a lot of local businesses,” he said.
“It’s great to have that recognition but it doesn’t necessarily fulfil everything that’s usually on the table.”
For example, other restaurants and bars are re-considering what brands they put out there, such as in the case of Irish bars known for their Guinness.
“Those SKUs are obviously starting to deplete, becoming unavailable so I think a lot of folks have to also pivot in that sense too,” he said.
“Ultimately, for some patrons, they have very, very strong loyal followings to certain brands so it’s going to take that adjustment period, even on the consumers, to realize what is actually happening in the supply chain and why is this affecting their daily lives.”
For a full list of B.C. Liquor stores that are closed, visit vancouversun.com/liquorstores .