Should U.S. Liquor Come Back to Canadian Liquor Stores, Bars & Restaurants?
A hospitality industry perspective on whether American liquor should return to Canadian liquor stores, bars and restaurants and what it means for guest experience.
It's one of the hottest debates in the Canadian hospitality industry right now: amid the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S., should American liquor be allowed back on the shelves of our liquor stores, restaurants, and bars?
The Guest Experience Argument
As a hospitality professional, my answer is simple: yes, U.S. product should be available.
True hospitality is built on the guest experience, and no matter the reason for the shortage, a guest who can't get what they want walks away with a worse impression of your business. To be clear, I'm not suggesting every restaurant carry every product. A French concept doesn't need to serve fish and chips, and an Italian spot doesn't need a burger on the menu. But when a guest asks for a bourbon and hears "we can't offer that," it's a negative experience regardless of the policy behind it.
What the Numbers Say
According to a Nanos Research poll for CBC News, 69% of Canadians said they would continue to boycott American alcohol even if it returns to store shelves, and honestly, I think that's a great outcome. Bringing U.S. product back into restaurants and bars doesn't take away consumer choice; it simply restores it. Canadians can decide for themselves whether to buy American, exactly as they already do with U.S. goods sitting on grocery store shelves.
At the same time, that same poll tells me roughly 30% of Canadians would buy American products if it returned, and as someone focused on guest experience, that's a number I have to take seriously too.
What Canadians Have Discovered
If anything, the real story here isn't the trade dispute itself — it's what Canadian consumers have discovered because of it. This period has pushed people to explore, and fall in love with, the incredible products and producers we have in our own backyard, along with some outstanding European alternatives. My prediction: even once American products return to liquor store shelves, it will take a long time for buying habits to bounce back. People have found new favourites, and many are still wary of the rhetoric coming out of the U.S. over the past couple of years.
Want to hear more? Check out my interview on CBC's Metro Morning, where I discussed this topic with Chris Glover.
