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The BC Wine Market Overview

Population in Western Canada

Canada has a total population of 30 million. 9 Million people live in Western Canada.

Population Western Canada (millions)

Western Canada

British Columbia
Vancouver
Victoria
Alberta
Calgary
Edmonton
Saskatchewan
Regina
Saskatoon
Manitoba
Winnipeg

9.00

3.91
1.99
0.31
2.97
0.95
0.94
0.98
0.19
0.22
1.12
0.67

source: Stats Canada Census 2001

BC Beverage Market Facts

BC market for alcoholic beverages 2001 ($,000 CAD) *)
Product	2001 Sales	% Change
Spirits	485,309	2.5
Wine	390,864	6.4
Beer	819,925	3.5
Cider / coolers	86,098	15.3
Other	10,681	(5.2)
Total	1,792,877	4.3
source: BC Liquor Distribution Branch Annual Report 2001-2002

Revenue of alcoholic beverages was close to $1.8 Billion.
The dollar share of wine was 21,8%, up 0,5% point from 2000.
BC is the fastest growing estate wine market in North America with consumption of 13.5 liters/year per capita (domestic plus import), according to Northwest Wines
The 6.4% ($23,5 M) increase in wine sales outpaced the overall growth of alcoholic beverages of 4.3%.
Volume growth of wine was 5.2% (1,758,000 liters).
Total volume of imported wine is 19 Million liter (51% of the total wine market in volume or 59% in value.
The average retail price for imported wine is $15,38 per liter or $11,54 per bottle (.75L).

source: BC Liquor Distribution Branch Annual Report 2001-2002 and the March 2002 Quarterly Market Review of the BC Liquor Distribution Branch

BC liquor sales by source by channel (2002)
Distribution channel	% $Share	Nr of outlets
Government Liquor Stores (LDB)	58.5	224
Licensee Retail Stores (LRS)	15.7	290
Agency Stores (RAS) *	4.1	151
Total Counter Sales	78.3
Licensee sales (bar, restaurant, hotel etc.)	21.7
Total Sales	100
source: BC Liquor Distribution Branch Annual Report 2001-2002 * refers to rural agency stores, consignment agency stores, independent wine stores, winery agancy stores and tourist wine shops

BC wine sales by country

Wine trends for 1999 - 2002 *)

The top 6 selling wine countries are Canada, United States, Australia, Italy, France, Chile.
Average annual growth for the period was 6%.
Consumption of red wine surpassed white.
Red wine growth is strongest for Canadian VQA (147%) and Australian wines (136%).
Australia is growing the fastest, at an average of 24% per year, followed by Canadian VQA (20%).

BC Wine Sales 1999 - 2002 in $000 CAD *)

Australia grew 24% per year, followed by New Zealand (22%), and Canadian VQA (20%), Argentina (19%).
New Zealand grew 22% per year, but growth slowed down from 32% in 2000 to 12% in 2002.
South Africa grew at 2% per year, and had its best year in 2002, when it grew 11%.
The US and Germany were the only countries to decrease sales, -6% and -1% respectively.

Sales of Canadian VQA surpassed US wines in 2002.
Australia moved from 7th to 4th position, and ranks closely behind the US.
Australia's growth outpaced Chile by about $22M in this 3 year period.

BC Revenue Market Share 2002

The share of domestic wines is 40% (an 8% increase from 37% in 1999).

*) Annual sales for the period ending March 2002. Numbers exclude fortified and sparkling wines.

While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy and completeness, these are not guaranteed. It is the express condition of use of this information that the publisher shall incur no liability. Information is based on data published by the BC Liquor Distribution Branch.

Global Perspective

What happens in BC is to a large extent a reflection of what happens in the rest of the world. Below are a few articles that I found helpful to put local trends in a global perspective.

Aussie record wine export year not enough to empty the tanks
Chilean vintners shoot higher in the wine market
New French wine category planned
New Zealand wine boom raises specter of glut

Western Canada Liquor Distribution

British Columbia Liquor Distribution System

90% of retail market controlled by BC Liquor Monopoly (BC Liquor Distribution Branch)
100 small cold beer and wine stores
15 private retail wine stores
more than 100 agents for alcoholic beverages
Warehousing and distribution controlled by BC Liquor Monopoly
Provincial tax on wine: approximately 110% Markup (e.g. $10 -> $21)
Additional sales tax of 10% Provincial plus 7% GST (VAT) at retail
BC has a population of 4 million
BC has a local wine industry that represents 40-50% of total provincial wine sales.
Vancouver and Victoria are tourist destinations with high season in summer. Vancouver is well known for its many excellent restaurants and wine & food events, see Planit Vancouver.
Whistler, located 1.5 hours North of Vancouver is one of the World's best Ski and Golf resorts and attracts a high-end clientele to its more than 50 restaurants and bars.
In 2001, BC hosted 5 million international tourists that spent $5.2 billion in restaurants and generated $1.5 billion hotel room revenue source: BC Tourism in Review 2001

Alberta Liquor Distribution System

100% Private retail stores; approximately 600 province wide
Warehousing and distribution controlled by Government appointed private monopoly.
Provincial tax on wine: approximately $3.50 per bottle and private retailers normally markup 20%-33% (e.g. $10 -> $13.50 -> $17.95)

Alberta has a population of 3 million
Canadian wine represents about 25% of the total Alberta wine market.
Banff National Park and Lake Louise are located 1.5 hours from Calgary and are World renowned tourist destinations for sight seeing in the summer and skiing in the winter.

Saskatchewan Liquor Distribution System

100% Government Monopoly Retail system
Warehousing and distribution controlled by Government Monopoly.
Provincial tax on wine: approximately $3.50 per bottle and private retailers normally markup 20%-33% (e.g. $10 -> $13.50 -> $17.95)
Provincial tax on wine: Approximately 90% markup (e.g. $10 -> $19)
Saskatchewan has a population of 1 million
Small urban centers leads to less premium restaurants and less premium wine sales.

Manitoba Liquor Distribution System

90% Government Monopoly Retail system
10 Private Retail Wine Boutiques
Warehousing and distribution mostly controlled by Government Monopoly but private retailers heavily involved in distribution to Restaurants and Hotels
Provincial tax on wine: Approximately 90% markup (e.g. $10 -> $19)

Manitoba has a population of 1.2 million
Manitoba issued private retail wine licenses quite recently. First phase was 4 licenses in 1995; second phase was 6 licenses in 1999.