Taylor says that there has been an “incredible resistance” from beer lobbyists, lobbying in government, from liberals in power and conservatives, as well as other parties. “This has been an incredible force and it’s been unfortunate, lobbying at federal level is controlled but at a provincial level it happens. The only reason that it’s taken 60 years is that these people know their stuff,” he states.

But Taylor, and his company, know that people love craft beer, and he has figures to back it up.

“In the LCBO, growth in craft beer was around 32% up, while in The Beer Store, owned by the big multinationals, this figure was only 1% which is a telling factor. That is very, very significant, as they sell 75% of the beer in the province. So these changes will be a big positive for us. But we still need to fight the fight together and take the market share. For us, it’s essential,” says Taylor.

“If you look at a small craft brewery, is that you want to be in your neighbourhood, you can now be at LCBO, Beer Stores, and the groceries. It’s important for breweries, for the economy, and for the country. Profits are going back into the country, the community, creating jobs in the process.”

For John Hay, president of Ontario Craft Brewers, the changes being made to the craft beer ecosystem across the province have been understandably welcomed.

Among these changes is the right to co-ship and to build joint distribution systems, which is considered essential to efficiently serving the new channels, and to make existing LCBO channel more efficient for the sector.

The organisation explains: “We have said over the years that some limited cross-selling would really help our smallest members and startups by creating secondary and tertiary markets that could very likely be needed as the larger systems run out of shelf space.

In light of all of the changes, the cross-selling option did not make it through at this time. Our recommendation is simply to review it in a year or two, once we can fully assess the impact of this first round of changes.”

For Hay, the changes go a long way in unlocking their ability to achieve our goal of having a craft brewery in every city and town in the province.

“This new environment, is only a good thing for craft beer. These measures are all helpful. We have at least 130 independent craft breweries, and this will hit around 200 before long. We want a brewery in every town and city, so we are well on our way to getting there,” he enthuses.