Beverage alcohol businesses under pressure
Counterpoint Brewing Company owner Graeme Kobayashi isn’t sure government bodies understand the nuances of the current business climate that food-and-beverage companies continue to face.
“I feel like the government is acting as though economic times for the hospitality industry are back to normal, yet we’re far from back to normal,” says Kobayashi.
The Kitchener nano-brewery says loans that helped businesses during the pandemic need to be re-paid.
Couple that with a scheduled tax increase and guidelines encouraging people to cut back on their alcohol consumption, brewers are facing a difficult commercial environment.
In January, The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction published a continuum of risk associated with weekly alcohol consumption and identified standard drink levels at which risk goes from low to highest.
Add to that a 6.3% federal “escalator” excise tax on those beverages kicks in April 1. It’s part of a combination of events that will put more pressure on the food and hospitality industry.
For more, visit CBC-KW.
