Beer hops onto supermarket aisles on Tuesday

Select Ontario supermarkets to begin selling six-packs

Starting Tuesday, chains like Metro and Loblaws will be legally allowed to sell six-packs of brew. This comes a month after a list of stores which would be allowed to sell beer on their shelves was released.

The road to supermarket beer sales has been a long one, with the Beer Store holding a monopoly on sales since prohibition.

In April, a report titled “Modernizing Beer Retailing and Distribution in Ontario” was released by the Premier’s advisory council. In September, the framework for selling beer in grocery stores was finalized, a “Beer Ombudsman” was put in place, and the grocery stores started vying for their own chance to sell beer.

Thirteen chains can currently apply for licenses to sell beer, with more to be added. According to Ontario government websites, these are:

• Coppa’s Fresh Market, with locations in the Greater Toronto Area

• Farm Boy 2012 Inc., with locations across the province

• Galleria Supermarket, in the Greater Toronto Area

• Hanahreuem Mart Inc., with locations in the Greater Toronto Area

• J & B La Mantia Ltd., in Lindsay, Ont.

• Loblaws Inc., with locations across the province

• Longo Brothers Fruit Market Inc., with locations in the Greater Toronto Area

• Metro Ontario Inc., with locations across the province

• Michael-Angelos Market Place Inc., in the Greater Toronto Area

• Pino’s Get Fresh, in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.

• Sobeys Capital Incorporated, with locations across the province

• Starsky Fine Foods Hamilton Inc.

• Wal-Mart Canada Corp., with locations across the province 

About this article

By: Bogdan Stanciu
Posted: Dec 14 2015 8:39 pm
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Filed under: News