Monthly archive for March 2018

Alberta’s New Tasting Regulations

The AGLC recently made changes to the liquor tasting policy. Servers are now required to have ProServe certification, licencees can recover some costs, and sample sizes have increased.

Reinvent Your Promotions

Competition for pubs and liquor stores has never been fiercer, with hotel lounges, restaurants and pop-up nightclubs being challenged at every turn. If you want to attract customers, engage them, and convert them in to regulars, you may have to go beyond the usual tried and trusted methods of promotion. Showing inventiveness can unlock a whole new customer base.

Sales Strong in Fall 2017

BC’s wholesale sales of BC Micro Brew showed 24.8% growth from October to December after 28.2% growth from July to September. Another strong category was coolers with 27.8% growth following a 19.4% increase the previous quarter. See how the other categories performed.

BC’s Island Wines

There are currently 50 wineries between Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, which are two separate Designated Viticultural Areas (DVA). Most of the wineries in this coastal region lie in the Cowichan Valley, 50 km from Victoria.

Cost-saving Strategies

Planning and implementing cost-saving strategies can seem easy enough, pinch a penny here, pinch a penny there… but what you end up doing is nickel and diming your business to death without considering the repercussions. This ends up leading to zero changes that truly impact the business and subsequent bottom line.

Barbara Philip MW was awarded the 13th annual Spirited Industry Professional Award. This award is presented to an individual who has made a significant contribution to the sales, service or promotion of wine in British Columbia.

Sean Nelson

Sean Nelson of Vij's restaurant was crowned Best Sommelier of British Columbia 2018. This was a hard-earned win for Nelson, who was also awarded "Best Taster" of the day. Nelson outscored second place winner…

Irish Times Pub Wins Best Irish Pub in North America

Victoria’s Irish Times Pub was voted Best Irish Pub in North America in 2017. That follows up on previously winning Best Irish Pub Outside of Ireland in 2015 by The Irish Times Newspaper and best pub in the city eight times since 2006 by the people of Victoria.