B.C. distilleries that pivoted to making hand sanitizer during the COVID-19 pandemic are now being ordered to stop.
Clay Potter, co-owner of The Moon Under Water Brewery, Pub and Distillery in Victoria, says his team began producing hand sanitizer when the need was immense and the supply uncertain.
“We have all the equipment in place, it took some trial and error to learn how to make it properly and to get it tested,” said Potter, who is also the brewmaster at the distillery.
He said he’s invested in ingredients like glycerin and other materials to make sanitizer and planned to continue producing the alcohol-based disinfectant. But he received a notice by email April 7, and follow-up letter a few days later, from the province stating all production of sanitizer must stop by May 8. All remaining stock must be sold or donated by November.
Distillers say there is no need for a hard deadline to stop producing sanitizer and they feel betrayed after stepping up for the public good during the pandemic.
The Moon Under Water Brewery and Distillery was one of a dozen B.C. distilleries that began making sanitizer at the beginning of the pandemic. (CBC News/Janella Hamilton)
“It’s just sort of another barrier for us. I’ve got about a dozen or so four-litre jugs still and then I have a lot of spoiled alcohol in the back that is just waiting to be distilled,” he said, adding he will be making as much sanitizer as he can before the deadline.
Hand sanitizer production got a temporary authorization from B.C.’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch in March 2020, the early days of the pandemic.
“It’s not a huge money maker for us, but it does help. When the pubs were shut down and our in-house lounge was shut down, we had a lot of beer that went stale and we still haven’t quite recovered,” said Potter. “Rather than dumping it, we’ve been distilling it into sanitizer.”
Distilleries on deadline to sell remaining sanitizer
Tyler Dyck is the president of the Craft Distillers Guild of British Columbia and the owner of Okanagan Spirits Craft Distillery in Kelowna and Vernon. He said putting distilleries on a deadline is adding unnecessary stress to an industry already hard hit during the pandemic.
“A huge chunk of those distilleries that cut off a full arm to help support their communities in a time of need, not only did they not get any help for it, now they’re effectively paying double for it because they have this product that could help them recoup some of that costs.”
Tyler Dyck, centre, says his family-run business has donated $750,000 in sanitizer to hospitals and frontline workers. (Tyler Dyck)
His family-run business still has thousands of bottles of sanitizer left over, which they plan to donate to women’s shelters and medical frontline workers.
“This product can be used for absolutely nothing else. So if distillers do not sell it by November, they basically have to dump it down the drain,” he said.
In a statement to CBC News, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General said the temporary authorization was an “interim measure intended to address the shortage of hand sanitizer early in the pandemic.” The move to now stop sanitizer production is in line with the province lifting mask mandates and vaccine card requirements, it said.
Distillers feel slighted by government
At the beginning of the pandemic, the prime minister called on Canadian industry to help produce protective supplies that were hard to find. At the height of the shortage, about a dozen distilleries in B.C. were supplying hospitals, government offices and emergency workers throughout the province, and producing tens of thousands of litres for free.
Dyck says during that time period, the federal government spent hundreds of millions of tax dollars procuring sanitizer from outside Canada. Because the market was flooded with imported, foreign-made sanitizer, some B.C. distilleries are left with stockpiles they now can’t sell.
Okangan Spirits Craft Distillery still has thousands of bottles of sanitizer they plan to donate to women’s shelters and frontline workers. (Tyler Dyck)
“After all of that, provincial and federal governments go out and buy cheap, internationally made hand sanitizer and bypass the ones that have had their back,” said Dyck. “That’s not just saying something. That’s a slap in the face.”
Dyck said the latest notice from B.C.’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch is like putting salt in the wounds of distillers who were hemorrhaging money due to COVID-19 restrictions but still took on hefty upfront costs to make sanitizer.
“In hindsight, a lot of businesses got themselves into very financially dire straits by doing the right thing for their communities, and they would do it again. Don’t get me wrong…. They probably might have scaled it back and not produced as much,” said Potter.
TORONTO – Cineplex Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year ago as it was hit by a fine for deceptive marketing practices imposed by the Competition Tribunal.
The movie theatre company says it lost $24.7 million or 39 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $29.7 million or 40 cents per diluted share a year earlier.
The results in the most recent quarter included a $39.2-million provision related to the Competition Tribunal decision, which Cineplex is appealing.
The Competition Bureau accused the company of misleading theatregoers by not immediately presenting them with the full price of a movie ticket when they purchased seats online, a view the company has rejected.
Revenue for the quarter totalled $395.6 million, down from $414.5 million in the same quarter last year, while theatre attendance totalled 13.3 million for the quarter compared with nearly 15.7 million a year earlier.
Box office revenue per patron in the quarter climbed to $13.19 compared with $12 in the same quarter last year, while concession revenue per patron amounted to $9.85, up from $8.44 a year ago.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Restaurant Brands International Inc. reported net income of US$357 million for its third quarter, down from US$364 million in the same quarter last year.
The company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its profit amounted to 79 cents US per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with 79 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue for the parent company of Tim Hortons, Burger King, Popeyes and Firehouse Subs, totalled US$2.29 billion, up from US$1.84 billion in the same quarter last year.
Consolidated comparable sales were up 0.3 per cent.
On an adjusted basis, Restaurant Brands says it earned 93 cents US per diluted share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 90 cents US per diluted share a year earlier.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents US per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Fortis Inc. reported a third-quarter profit of $420 million, up from $394 million in the same quarter last year.
The electric and gas utility says the profit amounted to 85 cents per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30, up from 81 cents per share a year earlier.
Fortis says the increase was driven by rate base growth across its utilities, and strong earnings in Arizona largely reflecting new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.
Revenue in the quarter totalled $2.77 billion, up from $2.72 billion in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Fortis says it earned 85 cents per share in its latest quarter, up from an adjusted profit of 84 cents per share in the third quarter of 2023.
The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 82 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2024.
