A trip to a grocery store in Toronto for your favourite wine or beer could leave you empty-handed.
That’s because a handful of grocers in the city have quietly stopped selling alcohol due to rising levels of theft and razor-thin margins.
“It's really becoming unmanageable and getting out of hand. And so some grocers have taken the decision to remove these products from their shelves,” Retail Council of Canada spokesperson Michelle Wasylyshen told CTV News Toronto.
Since 2015, grocers across Ontario have been able to sell wine and beer in their stores under the Master Framework Agreement, signed by the previous Liberal government. The 10-year deal with the foreign-owned Beer Store limits the margins grocery stores can make on the sale of wine and beer.
Eligible large and small-sized retailers applied to sell the products but had to keep their margins between 2 and 6.99 per cent.
According to Wasylyshen, the average margin on beer and wine sales for large grocers represented by the Retail Council of Canada in Ontario is 2.2 per cent.
“It's always been really tight for them. But now it's actually physically a loss, they are selling these products at a loss and it's not sustainable,” she said.
Although the exact number of stores that have gone dry remains unclear, Wasylyshen said the decision by grocers to do so was not made lightly.
“Grocers are still very happy to be able to sell alcohol. It's important just like it was 10 years ago,” she said. “Those that have removed beer and wine from their stores because of theft and small margins, it wasn't their first option. They did so as a last resort.”
As the sun sets on the Master Framework Agreement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford suggested in May he will make good on his 2018 campaign promise to bring booze to convenience stores.
Since then, the province has been quietly consulting with stakeholders, including the Ontario Convenience Stores Association (OCSA), on how best to make the pledge a reality.
“We are inching, if not moving faster, towards an open market,” OCSA CEO Dave Bryans told CTV News Toronto earlier this month.
“I think we're going to go forward and I hope by next Canada Day, there'll be some level of convenience stores that will be able to service the community.”
Although little is known about a possible framework to make alcohol more accessible after 2025, Wasylyshen said the government will need to address the issue of theft and margins -- as well as product variety and size -- for all retailers involved if such a program is going to succeed.
“There are a number of issues that we will be talking to the government about, that we really need to see some changes in in order to make this work,” she said.
In an email to CTV News Toronto, a spokesperson for Metro and Food Basics said alcohol products have not been removed from any of its stores.
CTV News Toronto has also reached out to Loblaw and Sobeys for comment.
With files from Katherine DeClerq and Siobhan Morris
