The Manitoba Market
There has never been a better time to be a beverage alcohol producer in Manitoba! With the introduction of the provincial Supporting Manitoba Craft Brewing Industry strategy in late 2014, work is well underway in making Manitoba a friendly and welcoming environment for craft producers.
It’s no secret that beer is all but the official alcoholic beverage of Canada, and this is no exception in Manitoba. Beer has been the drink of choice for Manitobans for many years now and will no doubt continue to be so for many more years to come. From May 2015 to May 2016, 76.1 million litres of beer were sold in Manitoba compared to 11.6 million litres of wine; a difference of a whopping 656 per cent!
In Manitoba, Canadian macro-produced beers have the majority of sales at 79.6 per cent, which is a decline in sales over last year (81.5 per cent 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 micro beers have approximately 4.6 per cent of the beer sales but have grown +12 per cent in dollars and +5 per cent in litres over the last year. Local craft breweries (Fort Garry, Half Pints, and Farmery) also continue to perform well in the Manitoba market. And with a number of new breweries and brewpubs scheduled to begin operations in the coming months, the craft-beer scene in Manitoba has never looked brighter.
Below are some charts detailing the state of beer in Manitoba. Please note that micro beer is the product of breweries with less than 75,000 HL production levels.
| MOVING ANNUAL TARGET (MAT) TO MAY 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACTUAL $ SALES MAT MAY 2016 | % $ VAR | LITRE SALES MAT MAY 2016 | % LITRES VAR | |
| Micro Beer | $15,461,799 | 12% | 3,160,892 | 5% |
| Non-Micro Beer | $311,732,208 | 2% | 72,888,905 | 0% |
| Grand Total | $327,194,007 | 2% | 76,049,797 | 0% |
When it comes to microbrews, beers from Canada have the largest dollar sales in the category while suds from the USA have strong growth.
| COUNTRY | ACTUAL $ SALES MAT MAY 2016 | % $ VAR | LITRE SALES MAT MAY 2016 | % LITRES VAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | $15,141,260 | 12% | 3,125,662 | 5% |
| United States | $260,722 | 7% | 28,227 | 1% |
| New Zealand | $26,264 | - | 3,229 | - |
| Belgium | $11,137 | 61% | 1,195 | 159% |
| Australia | $8,119 | - | 1,000 | - |
| Netherlands | $5,760 | - | 510 | - |
| United Kingdom | $4,499 | - | 670 | - |
| Mexico | $2,316 | - | 240 | - |
| Norway | $1,431 | - | 130 | - |
| Germany | $292 | - | 30 | - |
| GRAND TOTAL | $15,461,799 | 12% | 3,160,892 | 5% |
To contrast sales of micro beers, below is a ranking of macro beers (beers produced by large breweries) as they currently stand in Manitoba:
COUNTRY | ACTUAL $ SALES | % $ VAR | LITRE SALES | % LITRES VAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | $260,384,972 | 0% | 62,942,193 | -2% |
United States | $21,513,155 | 21% | 4,823,911 | 22% |
Mexico | $9,283,247 | 16% | 1,711,784 | 14% |
Belgium | $4,628,954 | 11% | 743,288 | 9% |
Netherlands | $4,298,706 | 0% | 718,474 | -1% |
Germany | $2,496,627 | -1% | 445,566 | -4% |
Ireland | $1,907,857 | 6% | 321,001 | 6% |
United Kingdom | $1,765,293 | -28% | 265,021 | -31% |
Denmark | $928,093 | 29% | 174,686 | 33% |
France | $854,526 | 33% | 134,363 | 32% |
Austria | $705,772 | 26% | 119,441 | 22% |
Jamaica | $593,863 | 18% | 77,080 | 11% |
Czech Republic | $554,647 | 39% | 98,981 | 38% |
Poland | $439,941 | 11% | 79,247 | 10% |
Spain | $333,800 | 28% | 58,332 | 30% |
Italy | $241,480 | 16% | 36,927 | 11% |
China | $142,161 | -7% | 29,288 | 0% |
New Zealand | $108,242 | 11% | 16,626 | 29% |
Ukraine | $94,465 | -4% | 14,855 | -9% |
Singapore | $82,740 | -2% | 16,274 | -7% |
Russia | $63,974 | 6% | 12,696 | 11% |
Japan | $58,520 | 10% | 9,533 | 9% |
Iceland | $56,397 | 35% | 8,266 | 12% |
Thailand | $33,366 | -10% | 6,158 | -3% |
South Africa | $29,735 | 41% | 5,555 | 35% |
Philippines | $26,219 | 80% | 3,314 | 84% |
Croatia | $20,245 | 55% | 4,213 | 71% |
Greece | $15,943 | 77% | 1,680 | 61% |
Trinidad and Tobago | $14,046 | -32% | 2,083 | -36% |
Portugal | $10,496 | -39% | 1,568 | -38% |
Brazil | $8,307 | -41% | 915 | -47% |
Laos | $7,710 | 1000% | 1,030 | 1082% |
Slovenia | $6,229 | 14% | 1,342 | 28% |
Ethiopia | $6,152 | -21% | 570 | -10% |
Kenya | $5,643 | 120% | 684 | 117% |
Serbia & Montenegro | $5,480 | -13% | 1,176 | 4% |
Barbados | $1,594 | - | 214 | - |
India | $1,292 | -54% | 190 | -52% |
South Korea | $1,286 | 33% | 262 | 45% |
Australia | $646 | -82% | 60 | -84% |
Lithuania | $205 | 18% | 30 | 0% |
Estonia | $112 | 26% | 20 | 3% |
Vietnam | $70 | - | 9 | - |
Romania | $0 | -100% | 0 | -100% |
El Salvador | $0 | -100% | 0 | -100% |
Switzerland | $0 | -100% | 0 | -100% |
Israel | $0 | -100% | 0 | -100% |
Argentina | $0 | -100% | 0 | -100% |
Sri Lanka | $0 | -100% | 0 | -100% |
Grand Total | $311,732,208 | 2% | 72,888,905 | 0% |
In Manitoba, spirit sales (at the end of May 2016) were $240.3 million and trending +4 per cent in dollars and +3 per cent in litres. Premium spirits (mid-range, well-known, well-established brands) snag the largest piece of the pie with 62.7 per cent of sales ($150.8 million), followed by economy spirits with 22.2 per cent of sales ($53.4 million) and finally, deluxe spirits (higher-end and niche brands), with 15 per cent of sales ($36.2 million).
In terms of type, whisky continues to dominate in Manitoba with a 37 per cent share of all spirit sales. Currently, the hot spirits within the whisky category showing excellent growth are Bourbon +16 per cent in dollar sales and Irish Blended Whisky +17 per cent in dollar sales. Single Malt Scotches also continue to grow at +11 per cent in dollar sales.
Other areas of growth:
- Canadian Whisky – Deluxe priced is +105 per cent in dollar sales
- Rum – Deluxe priced offerings are +19 per cent in dollar sales
- Tequila – Deluxe priced is +21 per cent in dollar sales
- Gin – Deluxe priced is +15 per cent in dollar sales
- Brandy – Deluxe priced is +15 per cent
In Manitoba, wine sales (at the end of May 2016) were $167.9 million and were trending +6 per cent in dollars and +5 per cent in litres. Economy wines hold the strongest percentage of sales at 44.3 per cent ($74.4 million). Premium wines (mid-price range, well –known, well established brands) hold the next largest percentage of sales at 45.4 percent ($76.2 million), with deluxe wines (higher-end and niche brands) holding the remaining share of 10.2 percent ($17.2 million).
In terms of types of wine, red table wine holds the largest share of sales representing 53.1 per cent ($89.2 million). In second place is white table wine which represents a 33.8 percent share of the market ($56.7 million). Although smaller segments in the Manitoba market, other key types of wine growth areas include:
- Sparkling wine, 4.6 percent share ($7.7 million), trending +10 percent in dollars
- Rose table wine, 3.1 percent share ($5.2 million), trending +9 percent in dollars
In terms of country performance on all wine, the Manitoba market sells wines from all over the world. The top 80 per cent or our wines sales come from the following 6 countries:
- Canada (VQA and Blended & Bottled), 27.3 per cent share ($45.9 million), trending +9 percent in dollars
- USA-California, 19.9 per cent share ($33.5 million), trending +7 per cent in dollars
- Australia, 12.6 per cent share ($21.2 million), -2 per cent in dollars
- Italy, 9 per cent share ($14.9 million), trending +5 per cent in dollars
- Chile, 7.5 per cent share ($12.5 million), trending +4 per cent in dollars
- Argentina, 5.5 per cent share ($9.3 million), trending +10 per cent in dollars
Although smaller segments in the Manitoba market, other key country growth areas include:
- New Zealand, 2.6 per cent share ($4.3 million), trending +22 per cent in dollars
- Spain, 2.8 per cent share ($4.8 million), trending +7 per cent in dollars