Vancouver raises the bar for alcohol-free drinks - CBC.ca | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Business

Vancouver raises the bar for alcohol-free drinks – CBC.ca

Published

 on


The recently launched Mocktails store and The Drive Canteen, a sober snack bar, are among the Vancouver businesses responding to a growing demand for non-alcoholic beverages.

Mocktails owner Angela Hansen said her “troubled relationship with alcohol” inspired her to stop drinking a year ago and look for alternative options. 

She found a variety of non-alcoholic drinks available online, but few places with a physical presence in the city and so in mid-March, she opened Mocktails, which offers zero-proof and dealcoholized wines, spirits and other drinks. 

“We need a place dedicated to this,” she said. “Whether you’re sober-curious, choose not to drink or don’t want to drink as much, it doesn’t mean that you want to miss out on the socialization and the experiences that everyone else is having.”

Hansen and experts in the field said an increased awareness regarding the health impacts of alcohol has created a shift in demand for non-alcoholic products and specialized stores. 

Consumer data provider Statista said the non-alcoholic beer market in Canada is expected to be worth about $400 million in revenue this year and is seen growing annually by 5 per cent. Meanwhile, the United States saw $565 million in sales for non-alcoholic beer, wine and spirits at off-premise locations like grocery stores last year, up 35 per cent compared with 2022, according to market research firm Nielsen IQ.

Angela Hansen decided to open Mocktails, a non-alcoholic liquor store, after struggling to find a store with a large variety of options in Vancouver. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

Victoria-based Adam Sherk is a senior scientist and special policy advisor with the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA), an Ottawa-based, non-governmental organization that focuses on providing national leadership on substance use.

Sherk said younger generations are “drinking less than ever before.”

“That generation of youth is kind of leading the cultural change around alcohol,” he said. 

“My guess would be that alcohol use will, on a per-person basis, go down quite modestly over time.”

In January 2023, the CCSA released guidelines stating no amount of alcohol is safe to consume and it recommended no more than two drinks a week. Sherk, who contributed to the Guidance on Alcohol and Health report, thinks that prompted many Canadians to rethink their health choices. 

He said Canadians consume an average of 13.3 drinks a week and close to 10 litres a year – nearly twice as much as the annual global average – which can lead to a higher risk of developing several types of cancer, liver cirrhosis and heart disease. 

Doug Stephen, owner of The Drive Canteen, says last year’s alcohol consumption guidelines report brought in a range of new customers looking to incorporate non-alcoholic drinks into their lifestyles. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

Doug Stephen, co-owner of The Drive Canteen, said the report’s numbers were shocking and led to a shift in the crowd coming into his store in Vancouver. 

“We’ve seen a lot of people who still drink, but want to drink a lot less and … mix in some non-alcoholic zero proof stuff with their regular drinking habits,” he said, also noting a rise in younger customers with “a very different view on alcohol.”

“We’re going to see more and more proliferation of this [industry], especially as people want to talk about things like mental health and physical health.”

Stephen said when he opened the snack bar in 2021 following his journey with sobriety, there were no other stores around carrying a mix of non-alcoholic drinks.

The Drive Canteen has a variety of unique snacks, convenience store treats, and a catalog of non-alcoholic beverages, which is now nearly 50 per cent of its monthly sales, he said. 

“We initially started with 100 to 200 square feet … we are now almost at 1,000 square feet dedicated to non-alcoholic [drinks] and as each week passes gradually more and more [products] take over.”

Mocktails, a non-alcoholic liquor store, recently opened in Vancouver. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)

For customer Charlene Prevatt, 42, the variety of non-alcoholic options allow her to drink “for the flavour of alcohol, not just for the feeling.”

“I love the ability to pair my food with my drinks, but also having something that I don’t have to worry about the next day,” she said, adding typical liquor stores have “maybe four [options] on a good day.”

Hansen said customers come in from as far away as Nanaimo, about 110 kilometres north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, and that he hopes non-alcoholic stores and drinks will become commonplace.

“I’m not here to try and convert anybody. I just want to educate people and give them options other than alcohol,” she said.

“I think that opens it for other people to be more receptive to doing that for themselves and looking maybe at their own relationship with alcohol.”

Adblock test (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Business

Telus prioritizing ‘most important customers,’ avoiding ‘unprofitable’ offers: CFO

Published

 on

 

Telus Corp. says it is avoiding offering “unprofitable” discounts as fierce competition in the Canadian telecommunications sector shows no sign of slowing down.

The company said Friday it had fewer net new customers during its third quarter compared with the same time last year, as it copes with increasingly “aggressive marketing and promotional pricing” that is prompting more customers to switch providers.

Telus said it added 347,000 net new customers, down around 14.5 per cent compared with last year. The figure includes 130,000 mobile phone subscribers and 34,000 internet customers, down 30,000 and 3,000, respectively, year-over-year.

The company reported its mobile phone churn rate — a metric measuring subscribers who cancelled their services — was 1.09 per cent in the third quarter, up from 1.03 per cent in the third quarter of 2023. That included a postpaid mobile phone churn rate of 0.90 per cent in its latest quarter.

Telus said its focus is on customer retention through its “industry-leading service and network quality, along with successful promotions and bundled offerings.”

“The customers we have are the most important customers we can get,” said chief financial officer Doug French in an interview.

“We’ve, again, just continued to focus on what matters most to our customers, from a product and customer service perspective, while not loading unprofitable customers.”

Meanwhile, Telus reported its net income attributable to common shares more than doubled during its third quarter.

The telecommunications company said it earned $280 million, up 105.9 per cent from the same three-month period in 2023. Earnings per diluted share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 was 19 cents compared with nine cents a year earlier.

It reported adjusted net income was $413 million, up 10.7 per cent year-over-year from $373 million in the same quarter last year. Operating revenue and other income for the quarter was $5.1 billion, up 1.8 per cent from the previous year.

Mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.85 in the third quarter, a decrease of $2.09 or 3.4 per cent from a year ago. Telus said the drop was attributable to customers signing up for base rate plans with lower prices, along with a decline in overage and roaming revenues.

It said customers are increasingly adopting unlimited data and Canada-U.S. plans which provide higher and more stable ARPU on a monthly basis.

“In a tough operating environment and relative to peers, we view Q3 results that were in line to slightly better than forecast as the best of the bunch,” said RBC analyst Drew McReynolds in a note.

Scotiabank analyst Maher Yaghi added that “the telecom industry in Canada remains very challenging for all players, however, Telus has been able to face these pressures” and still deliver growth.

The Big 3 telecom providers — which also include Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. — have frequently stressed that the market has grown more competitive in recent years, especially after the closing of Quebecor Inc.’s purchase of Freedom Mobile in April 2023.

Hailed as a fourth national carrier, Quebecor has invested in enhancements to Freedom’s network while offering more affordable plans as part of a set of commitments it was mandated by Ottawa to agree to.

The cost of telephone services in September was down eight per cent compared with a year earlier, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent inflation report last month.

“I think competition has been and continues to be, I’d say, quite intense in Canada, and we’ve obviously had to just manage our business the way we see fit,” said French.

Asked how long that environment could last, he said that’s out of Telus’ hands.

“What I can control, though, is how we go to market and how we lead with our products,” he said.

“I think the conditions within the market will have to adjust accordingly over time. We’ve continued to focus on digitization, continued to bring our cost structure down to compete, irrespective of the price and the current market conditions.”

Still, Canada’s telecom regulator continues to warn providers about customers facing more charges on their cellphone and internet bills.

On Tuesday, CRTC vice-president of consumer, analytics and strategy Scott Hutton called on providers to ensure they clearly inform their customers of charges such as early cancellation fees.

That followed statements from the regulator in recent weeks cautioning against rising international roaming fees and “surprise” price increases being found on their bills.

Hutton said the CRTC plans to launch public consultations in the coming weeks that will focus “on ensuring that information is clear and consistent, making it easier to compare offers and switch services or providers.”

“The CRTC is concerned with recent trends, which suggest that Canadians may not be benefiting from the full protections of our codes,” he said.

“We will continue to monitor developments and will take further action if our codes are not being followed.”

French said any initiative to boost transparency is a step in the right direction.

“I can’t say we are perfect across the board, but what I can say is we are absolutely taking it under consideration and trying to be the best at communicating with our customers,” he said.

“I think everyone looking in the mirror would say there’s room for improvement.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:T)

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

TC Energy cuts cost estimate for Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico

Published

 on

 

CALGARY – TC Energy Corp. has lowered the estimated cost of its Southeast Gateway pipeline project in Mexico.

It says it now expects the project to cost between US$3.9 billion and US$4.1 billion compared with its original estimate of US$4.5 billion.

The change came as the company reported a third-quarter profit attributable to common shareholders of C$1.46 billion or $1.40 per share compared with a loss of C$197 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 30 totalled C$4.08 billion, up from C$3.94 billion in the third quarter of 2023.

TC Energy says its comparable earnings for its latest quarter amounted to C$1.03 per share compared with C$1.00 per share a year earlier.

The average analyst estimate had been for a profit of 95 cents per share, according to LSEG Data & Analytics.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRP)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Business

BCE reports Q3 loss on asset impairment charge, cuts revenue guidance

Published

 on

 

BCE Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter as it recorded $2.11 billion in asset impairment charges, mainly related to Bell Media’s TV and radio properties.

The company says its net loss attributable to common shareholders amounted to $1.24 billion or $1.36 per share for the quarter ended Sept. 30 compared with a profit of $640 million or 70 cents per share a year earlier.

On an adjusted basis, BCE says it earned 75 cents per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of 81 cents per share in the same quarter last year.

“Bell’s results for the third quarter demonstrate that we are disciplined in our pursuit of profitable growth in an intensely competitive environment,” BCE chief executive Mirko Bibic said in a statement.

“Our focus this quarter, and throughout 2024, has been to attract higher-margin subscribers and reduce costs to help offset short-term revenue impacts from sustained competitive pricing pressures, slow economic growth and a media advertising market that is in transition.”

Operating revenue for the quarter totalled $5.97 billion, down from $6.08 billion in its third quarter of 2023.

BCE also said it now expects its revenue for 2024 to fall about 1.5 per cent compared with earlier guidance for an increase of zero to four per cent.

The company says the change comes as it faces lower-than-anticipated wireless product revenue and sustained pressure on wireless prices.

BCE added 33,111 net postpaid mobile phone subscribers, down 76.8 per cent from the same period last year, which was the company’s second-best performance on the metric since 2010.

It says the drop was driven by higher customer churn — a measure of subscribers who cancelled their service — amid greater competitive activity and promotional offer intensity. BCE’s monthly churn rate for the category was 1.28 per cent, up from 1.1 per cent during its previous third quarter.

The company also saw 11.6 per cent fewer gross subscriber activations “due to more targeted promotional offers and mobile device discounting compared to last year.”

Bell’s wireless mobile phone average revenue per user was $58.26, down 3.4 per cent from $60.28 in the third quarter of the prior year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:BCE)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version