There has never been a better time to be a beverage alcohol producer in Manitoba! We’ve collected some statistics that might help put things into context for you.
From August 2017 through to and including July 2018, 73.9 million litres of beer were sold in Manitoba compared to 11.9 million litres of wine; a difference of a whopping 520%!
In Manitoba, Canadian macro-produced beers have the majority of all beer litre sales 73.7%, down 5.9% from last year (79.6% in 2016) and 81.5% in 2015. The fastest growing beer segment in the province is that of craft-style beer which, in recent years, has exploded in both sales and interest.
In Manitoba, Canadian craft style beers have approximately 10% of the beer litre sales and have increased +7% in dollars and +3% in litres over last year.
Local craft breweries are launching with regularity to Manitoba. Today there are about a dozen local producers. These breweries continue to represent 3.6% of Manitoba’s total beer litre sales and are +16% in dollars and +10% in litres.
In Manitoba, spirit sales at the end of December 2018 were $246.6 million and trending up 1% in dollars and flat in litres. Premium spirits (mid-range, well-known, well-established brands) snag the largest piece of the pie with 59.01% of sales ($145.5 million). They are followed by economy spirits with 20.88% of sales ($51.5 million) followed by deluxe spirits (higher-end and niche brands), with 20.11% of sales ($49.6 million).
In terms of type, whisky continues to dominate in Manitoba with a 37% share of all spirit sales. Currently, the hot spirits within the whisky category showing excellent growth are Bourbon (up 24% in dollar sales) and Irish Whisky (up 17% in dollar sales).
Other areas of growth: