The shelf dusting operation is underway in the Quebec spirits aisle, where bottles are starting to disappear. By March, nearly 150 local products out of a total of 633 will no longer be sold in branches of the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ).
Posted at 1:36 a.m.
Updated at 6:00 a.m.
Fans of Noroi Orange liqueur or Rosemont Laurentia 3-year-old maple brandy will no longer be able to obtain their bottles on the shelves of the state company’s stores. They are among the Quebec spirits that have started to disappear from stores since July.
The 150 products withdrawn represent 25% of the assortment of Quebec brandies or gins offered, but only generate 2.5% of sales in this niche. This is why we decided to no longer stock them in stores.
With a saturated offer in this category and declining sales, the SAQ says it had no other choice but to clean up the 633 spirits offered in its branches to keep only the best sellers.
Announced in April, the decision to put an end to the “open bar” and to establish rules for “sound supply management” was taken in conjunction with the Union québécoise des microdistilleries (UQMD). So much so that the producers contacted by The Presssome of whom have products that have been removed from shelves, “don’t tear their shirts off.”
And for good reason. “Sales were cannibalizing each other,” said Simon Bourbeau, category director for spirits at the SAQ, during an interview with The Press.
He claims that these products benefited from enormous popularity between 2019 and 2022, while sales in this category “were booming” with an increase of 75%. The rest of the story, however, deviates from the fairy tale.
Sales have stagnated. There is a maturity that has been reached, even a decline, but the products have continued to multiply and the number of producers as well. The context was no longer favorable to accepting this number of products because the capacity of the Quebec market to absorb these new products was no longer there.
Simon Bourbeau, category director for spirits at the SAQ
The SAQ therefore met the 70 distillers with which it does business. Together, they decided to put aside those that were less pleasing to the consumer’s palate.
Currently, around thirty products have left the shelves. And the effects are being felt, maintains Mr. Bourbeau. “Already, in July, August, September, we noticed that the 475 products that remain are growing by 7%, he indicates. These first indicators show that it is beneficial. »
And the spirits which have left the stores have not necessarily signed their death warrant, explains Simon Bourbeau. It will be possible for distillers who want to sell them on the SAQ website or to restaurateurs, always through the state company.
Under the new entry and exit rules, from now on, distillers will submit their products at fixed times during the year. These will then be selected following blind tastings. After having spent a year in the branches, the product will be evaluated based in particular on the sales it has generated.
“It was about time”
Although seven of its products are off the shelves, Lilian Wolfelsberger, vice-president of Distillerie de Montréal, known for its Rosemont range, bluntly states that “it was time for the SAQ to clean up.”
“I’m not ripping my shirt off and crying foul. This will prevent us from ending up with products that are not great,” he adds.
Among its bottles that were discarded, its Rosemont Electric Orange liqueur suffered from great competition with many other products of the same type. “We started this a bit with magical thinking,” he admits.
In Trois-Rivières, the Wabasso Distillery had two of its spirits withdrawn. However, Guyaume Parenteau, co-owner, judges that these new rules are a “necessary evil”. “There was too much neglect,” he said, adding that some of the Wabasso products that will no longer be offered in the state-owned company’s stores were rather “left field”. The SAQ still has a dozen products developed by his company.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Guyaume Parenteau, co-owner of Distellerie Wabasso
Madeleine Dufour, president of UQMD, adds that the “collaboration” with the SAQ is “crucial” since it is the only distribution channel for distillers who cannot sell directly to restaurateurs and wine merchants. According to her, it is high time that the government allows its members to develop alternative distribution channels.
“I would never say that there are too many products,” she insists. There are too few distribution channels. »
Since the start of the year, three distilleries have ended their activities: Distillerie du St. Laurent, Distillerie de la Chaufferie and Champ Gauche. Could others decide to throw in the towel? “Everyone is thinking about it,” M responds bluntly.me Dufour.
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