It is my often-stated belief that the LCBO is doing little to help Ontario wineries, certainly not to help the smallest wineries which are now popping up all over Southern and Central Ontario. As time goes by, in my opinion, the Board is less interested in anything but products from the factory wineries. In the Spring 2007 price book, 229 of the 414 generally available (General List) Canadian wines were from either Vincor or Peller, or their subsidiaries. In 2006 these two suppliers accounted for more than $190 million dollars in sales. Total sales of Canadian Wine were just under $300 million. There are well over 100 independent wineries in Ontario. You figure it out.
In my opinion no Chair or head of any Ontario organization over time obtained the recognition of the general public more than now-retired Chair Andrew Brandt. The internal Employee Newletter, called "The LCBO Exchange", printed an article on the Brandt years in the March/April 2006 issue on the occasion of his retirement. I have prepared an article of my own concerning what was published therein. I hope it makes interesting reading. It is worth seeing just to see how they brag about sales being up 100% over these years while dividends were only up 73%...
You have to admire the nerve of the LCBO. On page 9 of the 2005-06 report they describe one of their six major customer segments as: "Comfy at Homes: Interested in Ontario white wine, but sometimes beer, usually domestic. Occasional shoppers, their purchasing decisions are based on price and bonus AIR MILES. They have little interest in learning more. Older women with lower income." WHOA!! Does this mean that people who buy domestic wine or beer are a bunch of poor and cheap old women who are too stupid to learn? To learn what? How to send their money out of Canada?? I find this to be an incredibly demeaning description of those who choose to support their neighbours, the local wine and beer industries. Incidentally this is not a new view by the LCBO. They have shown this contempt for those too dumb to buy imports for some time. Please remember that the only legal commercial competitors to LCBO are local producers. Anyone who is "Smart" enough to buy imports must purchase from LCBO, keeping record profits, management bonuses and high salaries intact.
For their own protection I have refused to discuss any of these matters with any LCBO employees in the Peterborough area that I worked with in the past. I have asked and paid for much information about LCBO operations through the Freedom of Information legislation, which are summarized below:
Freedom of Information Requests of May, 2007 There are many issues here that the public should see.
JUST HOW HAS THE LCBO BEEN SUPPORTING THE ONTARIO WINE INDUSTRY??
Never in the history of Ontario has an organization spent as much time, money and energy patting itself on the back as the LCBO does. Each year is a bragging fest about how they made record profits, did wonderful things for the Ontario wine industry and other things not relevant here. Yet when I walked into the Apsley LCBO to purchase a cold bottle of VQA white wine there wasn't any (Jun 23 2007). Closest I could come was a white label Jackson Triggs, which (I think it was 2005??) could have been up to 99% imported wine. No thanks. And the rest of the Canadian selection was pitiful (yet half an hour south of there was once the biggest selection of VQA in the world!).
But what are the numbers involved in Ontario Wine Sales? Did you know that in 1988 the LCBO sold just over 79 million litres of wine, of which just over 34 million litres was domestic? In 2006 LCBO sold about 112 million litres of wine, less than 33.5 million of which was domestic. Even including products that were up to 99% imported content as "domestic" couldn't help them reach the high mark of nearly 20 years ago.
LCBO Support for the Ontario Wine Industry From LCBO published numbers, see the reality.
How to get Ontario wines not available through the LCBO There are alternatives...
Just what did they do to irritate me so badly? I worked there nearly 30 years...
Some LCBO articles by other authors copied here with their permission.