Is Manitobans' choice drink changing? A new report suggests it might be
Manitobans drank enough beer in the past year to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool more than two dozen times – but a new report suggests other alcoholic beverages are wetting the whistle of more and more Manitobans.
Chris Warwaruk, the co-owner of Farmery Estate Brewery, has noticed the drink of choice for Manitobans has been changing.
"We noticed that with COVID that a lot of people were obviously at home and basically experimenting with different beverages," he said. "We definitely saw that impact in all the channels."
It prompted the Manitoba-made brewery to broaden its scope, experimenting with more flavours and cooler-style drinks.
"I think that Farmery has stepped up too and really kind of expanded our portfolio to try and reach that customer and to try and figure out what the local consumer is wanting," he said.
And what is that local consumer wanting? According to Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MBLL), it may be shifting.
According to the Crown corporation's annual report, there were 65.5 million litres of beer sold in the province in the past year. That's enough beer to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool more than 26 times.
However, beer sales have more or less consistently trended down over the past 10 years.
The report says this is partially because more customers are opting for the refreshment beverage category – a big category that includes coolers, seltzers and ciders to name a few.
According to the report, refreshment beverage sales have more than doubled in Manitoba over the past five years.
It is not a surprise to Marcus Wiebe, who runs Dead Horse Cider in southern Manitoba.
"I do think that the overall trend in alcohol beverage overall has kind of been to try more. There's more than just craft beer now – there's craft seltzers, there's craft ciders and stuff like that," he said.
"People are learning there is more than just beer, which is not a hit against beer. I like beer. Beer is great, but I think trying a cider here and there can be good too."
He said since starting his cider company in 2018, he's seen the shift in other jurisdictions towards the refreshment beverage category, especially seltzers. So seeing it in Manitoba is not a shock.
Manitobans' watering holes may be changing too.
The report says sales decreased at hotel beer vendors, while sales increased at specialty wine stores and in most restaurants and bars thanks to a full year of banquets, festivals, sporting events and concerts.
Michael Juce, the president of the Manitoba Hotel Association said those numbers are likely skewed due to the pandemic when restaurants, bars and sporting events were shut down.
The changes highlighted in the report, Juce said, seem to be more of a return to pre-pandemic levels.
"It's going to be interesting to see whether this is kind of the start of a trend I'll say, or whether this is the new normal," he said.
At the end of the day, Wiebe said Manitobans' drink of choice is not as important as where it is coming from.
"If people would drink more craft beer, cider, wine, distilled spirits, vodka, gin or whisky – whatever, more craft stuff and less really big companies, that would be better for everyone in Manitoba," he said.
"It's going to benefit everyone."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Most of the city is evacuating': Gridlock on Alberta highway after evacuation order in Fort McMurray
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Sask. police seize 1.5M pieces of evidence, lay 60 more charges in child exploitation case
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
'Inappropriate' behaviour shuts down Dublin to New York City portal
Less than a week after two public sculptures featuring a livestream between Dublin, Ireland, and New York City debuted, 'inappropriate behaviour' in real-time interactions between people in the two cities has prompted a temporary shutdown.
Bouchard scores late to lift Oilers over Canucks, tie series
After a final frame that saw the visiting Vancouver Canucks claw their way back and tie the game late, a point shot by Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard with 38 seconds left (until what seemed like certain overtime) iced the 3-2 victory for Edmonton to knot the series.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker rails against Pride month, working women in commencement speech
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker railed against Pride month, working women, President Biden's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and abortion during a commencement address at Benedictine College last weekend.
King Charles III unveils his first official portrait since his coronation
King Charles III has unveiled the first portrait of the monarch completed since he assumed the throne, a vivid image that depicts him in the bright red uniform of the Welsh Guards against a background of similar hues.
Full List Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Alberta announces the 4 health agencies that will replace AHS later this year
The province has released more information on its plan to break up Alberta Health Services and replace it with four sector-based health agencies.
Biden administration moving ahead on US$1 billion arms package for Israel, AP sources say
The Biden administration has told key lawmakers it is sending a new package of more than US$1 billion in arms and ammunition to Israel, two congressional aides said Tuesday.