Steep markups keep B.C. craft spirits off BC Liquor Store shelves, industry says [Video]

With U.S. booze pulled from the shelves of BC Liquor Stores amid the U.S. trade war, the province’s craft distillers say now is the time for the province to support local products.

“Do we want to have BC Liquor Stores with empty shelves when it should be filled with shelves that are powering our own economy? I think most British Columbians would say no,” said Tyler Dyck, president of the Craft Distillers Guild of B.C.

“Right now there has never been a better time.”

To be certified as “craft,” a distillery in B.C. must use 100 per cent B.C. inputs, ferment and distill on site, and not exceed annual production of 100,000 litres.

The industry has boomed in the last two decades, growing from just four distilleries to nearly 10 times that number.

But Dyck said despite the growth, government regulations are keeping products off the shelves of government liquor stores, which account for most alcohol sales across the …