WHITEWATER REGION (Cobden, Foresters Falls) — Don’t expect to see the price of beer lowered on Whitewater Brewery suds.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is proposing buck-a-beer by Labour Day weekend.
The local brewery owner said while there’s a lot of publicity about this issue right now, it doesn’t affect their products.
“It’s not something that’s going to make a big difference to us,” said owner Chris Thompson.
The minimum price before was $1.25 and the brewery was already selling “way above that” amount.
Besides, it isn’t cheap beer the Whitewater Brewery is selling.
“We don’t position ourselves as a budget or cost-saving beer,” Mr. Thompson said. “We prioritize using high quality local ingredients brewing really great beer in traditional methods.
“You can’t do that at those budget prices.”
Mr. Thompson continued, “For us, it’s more about brewing high quality products that people want to drink, supporting local businesses, local economies and paying our staff well.”
Another consideration is that beer prices could increase, he said. There are increasing costs, new tariffs on aluminum, minimum wage increases, which all contribute towards prices going up, not being reduced, he explained.
“We don’t market ourselves as cheap or budget beer,” Mr. Thompson said. “We are absolutely a premium beer because we invest in high quality ingredients, the best you can buy in Ontario and we pay more for that.”
As for those beer prices that will be lowered, Mr. Thompson doesn’t think it can be sustained, especially with increasing costs.
