TORONTO, ON – Ontario Beverage Network reports that two major sponsors of the Canadian Brewing Awards & Conference have withdrawn their support for this year’s edition due to new eligibility rules.
As reported by CBN in January, entry into the 2017 CBAs is limited to beers and ciders produced by “Canadian-owned commercial brewers and cider makers,” a change form previous years where any beer or cider produced in Canada could be entered regardless of company ownership.
As a result of this change, national brewery trade group Beer Canada and Ontario-based retail chain The Beer Store have stepped down as sponsors of the CBAC.
Several foreign-owned and foreign-partnered breweries are key members of Beer Canada, including Labatt Breweries, Molson Coors, and Sleeman Breweries, and Labatt and Molson Coors are the majority owners of The Beer Store.
In an open letter to CBAC president Rob Engman, Beer Store president Ted Moroz says the CBAC “chose not to disclose your plans to change this policy when you approached us for sponsorship earlier this year,” and that the new criteria clashes with the Beer Store’s “mandate to support the growth and success of all the brewers who sell through our system regardless of their size or ownership.” As a result, “the Beer Store will be withdrawing its sponsorship effective immediately.”
In response to the withdrawals, CBAC parent company Taps Media issued the following statement:
In the 10 plus years that TAPS Media has been running the Canadian Brewing Awards we have continually endeavoured to improve through collaboration and input from our community of Canadian brewers. As part of this process we conduct surveys and encourage input and feedback from brewers across Canada. The decision to change the guidelines to require Canadian ownership was in response to that feedback.
The 2017 Canadian Brewing Awards & Conference will be taking place May 25-27, 2017 in Ottawa.
For more details, see the full article at OBN.