Changes to BC’s liquor laws, wine is now available on some grocery store shelves

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SURREY (NEWS1130) – New liquor laws came into effect today across BC, and that includes a new rule allowing certain grocery stores to sell local wine.

The first grocery store in the province to begin selling liquor was in South Surrey where the Attorney General and a handful of other politicians unveiled a new section that had shelves lined with bottles of wine right next to snack foods.

Suzanne Anton says the next step for the provincial government will be to roll out liquor stores within grocery stores.

“I’m guessing we’ll see the first full service liquor store in grocery stores fairly quickly — how quickly they’ll roll out after that, that’s a decision between the business and the grocery store.”

“This is a milestone event for BC’s progress in modernizing our liquor laws, a culmination of our public and industry consultations, our work to update BC’s liquor laws, and our promise to get out of the way and let BC businesses do what they do best: create jobs and enhance our economy,” she adds.

The Save-on-Foods on 152nd in South Surrey is partnering with the BC Wine Institute which represents almost 100 wineries and selling about 500 different BC wines.  Anton says if other stores want to follow suite, then they also need to get in touch with the institute.

“As the grocery models are adopted, this will further build on the many changes we’ve made, such as liquor sales in farmers’ markets, bringing down beer garden fences and introducing happy hour to BC, as we continue down our path of modernizing BC’s liquor laws,” says John Yap, Parliamentary Secretary for Liquor Policy Reform.

It’s unclear where the next grocery store to offer booze will be located.

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