Calgary cider company says high markups unfairly impact distribution

A Calgary-based cidery is drawing attention to a policy it says is “unfairly” impacting cider distribution in Alberta.

Sunny Cider owner Dennis Scanland says distribution markups regulated by the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission (AGLC) mean he has to pay significantly more to send products across the province than breweries do.

Scanland says Alberta breweries pay an extra 10 cents for every litre of beer distributed using a service called Connect Logistics, whereas cideries pay $1.81 per litre.

This means cider businesses pay a $90 markup for a $50 litre keg, and breweries pay just $5 — even though both products have the same alcohol content, he explains.

Scanlan says cider only accounts for around 6 per cent of liquor sales in the province, and the markup is only making it more difficult for Alberta cideries to grow.

“The reason cider is so low, only six per cent, is because there’s not very much cider available at the liquor store,” Scanland said. “You might see 10, 15 products, maybe, as opposed to thousands of beers. If you pop into a liquor store you’ll see that disparity.”

Scanland is now calling on the AGLC to make the markup equal between cideries and breweries and has started a Change.org petition, which he says has got a good response so far.

“Anybody that looks at it and they’re like, ‘Oh yeah, I’ll put my name on this, this makes sense. Why are you different? You’re the same alcohol percentage as beer, you’re the same format,'” he said. “And, cider costs more to make so we’ve got a higher expense going into our product and then we also have this high markup on it and so many people are supportive of the whole thing.”

He says he is planning on bringing the petition to local MLA’s once it receives 500 signatures.

Scanland adds this policy is a big reason why B.C. products often make up the majority of cider products found in Alberta liquor stores.