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Grocery stores will have the chance to bid on six opportunities to apply for a licence to sell 100% B.C. wine, cider and sake off grocery store shelves.
The right to apply for these licences will be auctioned off individually online, with staggered bidding opportunities at BC Auction. The first round of auctions is scheduled to take place in late April, and will ensure fairness and transparency while determining the eligibility for the first six licences.
The end goal is to allow for up to 18 licences. Following the initial offering, the remaining auctions will be conducted at a later date that is yet to be determined. Interested parties will need to re-apply to participate in the remaining auctions.
Only grocery stores that meet specified regulatory criteria will be eligible to bid – and a registration, pre-screening and $25,000 deposit is required for all bidders, for each licence they are bidding on. The $25,000 deposit will be refunded to all unsuccessful bidders.
Additionally, to give B.C.’s smaller, non-VQA wineries more opportunity to get their products into stores, government has expanded BC Wine Institute sales to include all 100% B.C. wine products. This means that all 21 licences held by the BC Wine Institute are now authorized to sell all 100% B.C. wine products rather than just VQA wines.
The Liquor Control and Licensing Branch is holding a technical briefing conference call for interested grocery stores at 1 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2016. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP by contacting liquorpolicyreview@gov.bc.ca by 4 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2016. Technical briefings for private liquor store associations and local governments through UBCM are also being arranged.
(flickr.com) Quick Links:
For information on the details of the auction and who is eligible, visit: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/lclb/docs-forms/auction-sws-information-interested-parties.pdf
To register for the special wine store licence auction, visit: http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/lclb/docs-forms/LCLB313.pdf
Learn more about BC Auction: https://www.bcauction.ca/open.dll/welcome
Read the full list of Liquor Policy Review recommendations: www2.gov.bc.ca/local/haveyoursay/Docs/liquor_policy_review_report.pdf
Learn more about the BC Wine Institute: http://www.winebc.org/
