Banned booze from south of the border hasn’t spoiled in storage, MLL says

Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries Corp. says it hasn’t had to deal with any expired U.S. booze six months after its retail outlets pulled the products from store shelves in response to trade war threats.

“The U.S. liquor that we are holding at our distribution centre is mostly wine and spirits,” a spokesperson for the Crown corporation said Friday.

“These products have a long shelf life. As such, there is not any significant spoilage of U.S. products for (Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries) to manage.”

Premier Wab Kinew announced Feb. 2 that Manitoba Liquor Marts would take American products off store shelves after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose crippling tariffs on Canadian imports.

MLL also halted orders of American products, which Kinew said would take an $80-million bite annually out of the U.S. economy.

The Quebec liquor board, meanwhile, may be forced to destroy $300,000 worth of American alcohol that the province has banned from its stores.

U.S. alcohol purchased before the boycott is being stored, but Quebec’s liquor board said that unless the government changes its guidelines it will have to destroy some products when they expire.

The Quebec corporation says the affected products are mainly rosé and boxed wines, ready-to-drink cocktails and certain beers and liqueurs not suitable for prolonged storage.

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In Manitoba, American products continue to be held in storage. “Because the situation with the U.S. continues to evolve, we cannot identify at this time what might happen to any American products,” the Liquor and Lotteries spokesperson said in an email.

The ban on products made in the U.S. included 409 spirits and 341 wines, as well as beers and other tipples bought and paid for by the publicly owned corporation.

MLL has reported the price that it paid for the shelved U.S. booze — the “duty paid landed cost — ” was $3.4 million. It couldn’t provide its retail value but noted the gross profit margin for liquor products was 52 per cent in the 2023-2024 annual report.

— With files from the Canadian Press

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca

Carol Sanders
Legislature reporter

Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.

Every piece of reporting Carol produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.