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 Manitoba is certainly no exception. 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 August 2016 to August 2017, 74.9 million litres of beer were sold in Manitoba compared to 10.7 million litres of wine; a difference of a whopping 700%!
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 12.5% of the beer litre sales, but have increased +7% in dollars and +4% in litres over last year. Craft sales continue to increase due to several new local craft breweries being introduced to Manitoba; Torque, Barn Hammer, Little Brown Jug, Brazen Hall and PEG Beer have all begun operations with more to arrive in the market soon! Also continuing to perform well in sales are Manitoba producers Fort Garry, Half Pints and Farmery. Local breweries represent 3.6% of Manitoba’s total beer litre sales and are +16% in dollars and +12% in litres.
The following charts detail the current state of Canadian beer sales in Manitoba.
| ACTUAL $ SALES | % $ | LITRE SALES | % LITRES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Macro | $233,526,630 | -1% | 55,182,020 | -3% |
Craft-Style | $43,432,012 | 7% | 9,440,777 | 4% |
Grand Total | $276,958,643 | 0% | 64,622,797 | -2% |
When it comes to craft-style, beers produced in Canada have the largest dollar sales in the category:
| ACTUAL $ SALES | % $ | LITRE SALES | % LITRES |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | $43,432,012 | 7% | 9,440,777 | 4% |
United States | $10,419,682 | -3% | 2,115,512 | -7% |
Ireland | $1,917,154 | 3% | 329,417 | 5% |
Germany | $1,004,941 | -3% | 169,216 | -4% |
Austria | $885,021 | 12% | 138,373 | 8% |
United Kingdom | $812,403 | -8% | 109,785 | -6% |
Belgium | $528,733 | -7% | 56,220 | -8% |
Czech Republic | $276,172 | 4% | 45,034 | 6% |
Italy | $243,040 | 2% | 36,282 | 1% |
China | $126,559 | 6% | 26,311 | 6% |
To contrast sales of craft-style beers, below is a ranking of macro beers (beers produced by large breweries) as they currently stand in Manitoba:
ACTUAL $ SALES | % $ | LITRE SALES | % LITRES | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Canada | $233,526,630 | -1% | 55,182,020 | -3% |
United States | $12,596,449 | 8% | 2,802,335 | 3% |
Mexico | $9,891,921 | 6% | 1,717,441 | 2% |
Belgium | $4,834,677 | 15% | 788,321 | 13% |
Netherlands | $4,428,515 | 2% | 724,382 | 0% |
Germany | $1,624,321 | 8% | 301,538 | 10% |
Denmark | $1,125,063 | 12% | 203,704 | 9% |
France | $979,844 | 6% | 149,487 | 4% |
Jamaica | $665,352 | 5% | 83,272 | 4% |
United Kingdom | $543,928 | -7% | 88,067 | -5% |
In Manitoba, spirit sales (at the end of August 2017) were $246.1 million and trending + 1% in dollars and +1% in litres. Premium spirits (mid-range, well-known, well-established brands) snag the largest piece of the pie with 61.6% of sales ($151.5 million), they are followed by economy spirits with 21% of sales ($51.8 million) and finally, deluxe spirits (higher-end and niche brands), with 21% of sales ($42.8 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 +19% in dollar sales and Irish Blended Whisky +22% in dollar sales.
Other areas of growth:
- Flavoured Vodka – Deluxe priced is +20% in dollar sales
- Flavoured Rum – Deluxe priced is +12% in dollar sales
- Cream Liqueurs – Deluxe priced is +9% in dollar sales
- Tequila – Deluxe priced is +21% in dollar sales
- Gin – Deluxe priced is +36% in dollar sales
- Brandy – Deluxe priced is +15%
In Manitoba, wine sales (at the end of August 2017) were $175.6 million and were trending +3% in dollars and +2% in litres. Economy wines hold the strongest percentage of sales at 42.3% ($74.3 million). Premium wines (mid-price range, well-known, well established brands) hold the next largest percentage of sales at 46.7% ($82.1 million), with deluxe wines (higher-end and niche brands) holding the remaining share of 11.0% ($19.3 million).
In terms of types of wine, red table wine holds the largest share of sales representing 52.6% ($92.4 million). In second place is white table wine which represents 33.6% share of the market ($59.0 million). Although smaller segments in the Manitoba market, other key types of wine growth areas include;
- Rosé table wine, 3.4% share ($5.9 million), trending +11% in dollars
- Sparkling wine, 4.9% share ($8.6 million), trending +7% in dollars
In terms of country performance on all wine, the Manitoba market sells wines from all over the world. The top 80% of our wine sales come from the following six countries;
- Canada (VQA and Blended & Bottled), 28.9% share ($50.8 million), trending +8 % in dollars
- US-California, 19.2% share ($33.7 million), flat in dollars
- Australia, 11.6% share ($20.4 million), -3% in dollars
- Italy, 9.3% share ($16.3 million), trending +6% in dollars
- Chile, 7.0% share ($12.4 million), trending -3% in dollars
- Argentina, 5.4% share ($9.4 million), trending flat in dollars
Although smaller segments in the Manitoba market, other key country growth areas include;
- New Zealand, 3.0% share ($5.2 million), trending +14% in dollars
- Spain, 3.1% share ($5.5 million), trending +11% in dollars