ANBL Growlers = Tax Waste

[blisster]

ANBL was (rightfully) nominated for biggest tax wast award for their growlers 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/nb-liquor-growler-purchase-earns-taxpayer-waste-award-nomination-1.2981260

40,000 growlers, for a 3-store pilot?  Perfect example why beer/wine/mead/cider sales would be better off in the private sector.

[feldmann]

NB Liquor said it was planning to organize promotional activities, where the corporation's growlers will be given away.

I wonder if I could bottle an entire batch with just growlers...

[pliny]

This is pretty obvious but if they expand the program to more than 4 stores they could unload a whole bunch more growlers.
But that would take a bit of thinking, planning and organizational skills...

They don't want to compete against the micros that are doing growler fills in their towns, fine. But there are other stores like Woodstock, Grand Falls, Bathurst, Miramichi and other ones in the bigger cities and all four corners of the province. There's like 50 stores not counting the agency stores. Yes, it would be a logistical challenge and not all areas would take to this. I'm no expert but if they add like an average of one store per month and see how it goes.

The program can't be hailed as a success, and alot more can be done. But the selection of growler fills are interesting on certain weeks - especially recently. I've seen some Rogue, Lost Coast, Trou du diable, Muskoka, Unibroue, Shipyard, Sam, Les trois mousquetaires, Brooklyn and many others.
And this week it's really fun - all local. I sure hope they don't terminate the program just yet.

I guess they have to figure out if they're making money with this. After buying the kegerators and the co2 and everything else. Is the goal to sell beer? Or is their goal to unload the growlers to look better in the eye of the public? There's a bit of a strategy and vision thinking.


In all fairness, 125k is not much of a boondoggle. The healthcare system costs more than $4,000 per minute; now health is important but there is waste somewhere in there for sure.

[Scott]

The article said they might start giving the growlers away for promotion, why not sell them at a reduced cost, say $5- they would still make a couple of dollars....or just dump them at cost.

[Jake]

Yea at the end of day, they're still worth something ... while it is a sunk cost right now at this point, I'm pretty sure they could probably recover their cost on these things. At that large of a volume, I wouldn't think they would have more than a couple bucks into each growler. I'd probably get a new growler each and every time if it was an extra 2 or 3 bucks ... can never have too many growlers!

[Evil Jalapeno]

They may have only sold about 3000 growlers so far, but at $10 a piece, that's $30,000, which is already 20% of their investment. Considering that glass isn't really known for going bad, if the program expands to other stores, especially in the north where the beer selection isn't always great, I'm sure they'll recoup most of that money within a year or so.

I'm in Moncton, where I can finally get my growlers refilled, and I can tell you that most of the time, when I get to the liquor store, there's a line-up in front of the kegerator. If the program isn't doing great in Fredericton, the situation seems to be much different over here!

[Two Wheeler]

That's great to hear. We are spoiled here in Freddy with a couple growler options and forget that not every part of the province has access.