Microbreweries in New Brunswick will no longer be required to move product through the provincial liquor agency before they can open on-site stores.
NB Liquor has scrapped a regulation in its Brewer’s Agency Store Policy that required new breweries to sell at least 100 hectolitres (10,000 litres) of product through the Crown-owned vendor network before an on-site store would be allowed.
“This regulation was put into place to ensure product quality; however, after discovering it may be a barrier to new breweries, it was removed,” NB Liquor CEO Brian Harriman said in a release Friday.
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All new brewers setting up in the province will still be required to send product samples to an independent food inspection lab to test for quality and safety, the province said.
Training under the Smart Serve program will still also be required for all brewery staff, the province said. Smart Serve is a certification program promoting responsible liquor service in the hospitality sector.
NB Liquor noted it covers the costs of those two requirements.
The agency will also continue to offer a 50 per cent reduction in markup rates for provincially-produced craft beers and “full distribution” in the NB Liquor store network, Harriman said. — AGCanada.com Network
