LUMSDEN - The on-again, off-again tariff situation is not all bad news for some Saskatchewan businesses.
For local craft breweries and distilleries, it is seen as an opportunity to promote a “shop local” message, and to perhaps gain new customers interested in spending money on local products instead of sending their dollars to the USA.
Meredith Schmidt is co-founder of Last Mountain Distillery in Lumsden. It is Saskatchewan's first micro- distillery making a variety of spirits from vodkas, flavored vodkas, to rums of all kinds and whiskeys.
Schmidt is welcoming the current focus on encouraging people to shop local.
“With the Premier announcing people should be focusing on local spirits produced, hopefully this is a really good thing for us. We're fortunate that we don't source much from outside of Canada, so the tariffs coming across the U.S. border aren't going to impact us very heavily, and we don't ship very much to the U.S. either, so again, not going to impact us, but hoping to gain a whole new audience of people who are looking to try craft spirits.”
The tariff threats coming from the United States should not impact Last Mountain Distillery too much, as Schmidt notes their products are made with locally sourced ingredients.
“Yeah, so spirits are made from a variety of different grains,” Schmidt said. “So we use wheat, we use malted barley, we use corn, and then flavorings for any of our vodka. Our dill pickle vodka, which a lot of people know, is sourced from the dill from right across the street at Lincoln Gardens. Garlic, cucumbers… Yep, you bet. Canadian, all the way.”
Schmidt said the majority of their sales are within Saskatchewan.
“So yeah, most of what we sell is within Saskatchewan, and a lot of that is because of the regulations for selling outside of the province. So the way the regulations sit right now, Saskatchewan has a very generous policy for how our craft industry is treated. Once we step outside of the province, we don't necessarily receive those same benefits.”
What Schmidt welcomes is the talk about removing inter-provincial trade barriers - which she supports, on a limited scale.
“So it's really exciting for us to hear that the premiers have met, and they're talking about inter-provincial trade barriers being lifted for at least direct-to-consumer. So that doesn't mean we can be selling at Sobeys across the country, but at least we can sell directly to consumers who are interested in purchasing our products. So that's a really big thing for us that we're excited and hoping comes as a result of these tariffs.”
In terms of selling through retailers, “there's a risk to all of the craft producers that if the inter-provincial trade barriers were lifted completely, that we would potentially here in Saskatchewan lose some of our craft benefits, and we're not looking to do that. We do not want that.”
What she wants to see is “our excise tax, the sin tax that people talk about that is on alcohol, tobacco, gasoline, all of that stuff — we're hoping to see a reduction in that. That's kind of our big ask from the federal government with all of this, to help the craft industry. So the craft spirits industry is actually the only side of the craft industry between beer, wine, and spirits that has not received any kind of relief from the federal government for our excise tax. So this is an opportunity for the government to step up and give us the relief we have been waiting for a very, very, very long time for.”
Those involved in making craft beer in the province are also welcoming the interest by consumers in buying local.
Hayden McPherson is marketing coordinator with District Brewing in Regina. His brewery recently hosted the opposition New Democrats at a media event in which the party pitched a “shop local” message.
“As a Saskatchewan business, we make great beer, and we contribute a lot back to Saskatchewan in the day-to-day efforts we do, even from little things like donating our spent grain to local farmers around Saskatchewan,” McPherson said. “And so, we think it's awesome to have this kind of spotlight put on local products and supporting Saskatchewan-made items and putting that as a main focus, and we really make the best products here.”
McPherson noted their products uses Canadian grains and Canadian ingredients, and most of their product is sourced from Canada. He, too, would like to see more inter-provincial trade barriers lifted"
“There's different rules and regulations in each province. So there's a little bit of a hiccup here and there. But we would love to see inter-province trade get a little bit better, a little bit easier, so we can bring our products across the board, they can bring theirs over here, and we can highlight Canadian businesses rather than American.”
During that media event at District Brewing, the NDP called for the halting of U.S. beer sales by Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority. The following week, Premier Scott Moe made the announcement to halt those sales in response to the tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump.
During that news conference, Premier Moe was asked if he though people should be buying Canadian.
“Absolutely,” said Moe. “In fact, you know, with respect to the changes that we’re making when it comes to some of the alcohol sales, very shortly we will not have a lot of choice. But absolutely. You y know, I’ve always said that people should not only look at buying Canadian but buying locally to the community. Second to that, look to buying locally in the region and the province, and third to that buy Canadian, and buy North American.”
