Agriculture committee  I don't get to peer into the hearts and minds of the marketing people within the breweries, but I think there certainly is an effort going into broadening the appeal of beer to a larger audience, because per capita consumption has been very stable or flat for several years. So in

Agriculture committee  No, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to come here and present, and I thank you for all the questions. At any time, if you want to stop by our office, we're right across the street at 45 O'Connor. You're more than welcome to come and have a beer with us.

Agriculture committee  I think across the board all of the provincial liquor boards have done a fantastic job, not just on the responsible use programming but also on cultivating a real appreciation for food and for drinking in moderation, whether it be beer, wine, or spirts. I think we were very compl

Agriculture committee  Yes. Competition is good. I think here in Ontario there certainly is a lot of competition between The Beer Store and the LCBO, but I would say that the LCBO does a lot to complement the category.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  I'd be happy to share that with the committee.

Agriculture committee  Yes.

Agriculture committee  I don't have that statistic. I could follow up with you.

Agriculture committee  Climate is a big part of it. A lot of hops were grown in the Fraser Valley pre-1990. Some people are saying with Canada becoming a little warmer and drier we might make more land available to crops like hops, but I don't know if we can wait to see how that's going to unfold.

Agriculture committee  I'm not certain.

Agriculture committee  Every province is unique. Quebec and Alberta are probably the most open, if you will. In Quebec you've got convenience stores, 17,000 points of retail in Quebec, compared to a province like Ontario, which has a bigger population, where you've got 12,000 or 13,000. What we carry i

Agriculture committee  We represent companies that would make non-alcoholic beverages. Labatt produces their Labatt Blue, which is 5% alcohol. Molson produces Molson Excel, which is .5%. Those would be the biggest ones. They are treated like a non-alcoholic beverage, and they don't carry the same tax o

Agriculture committee  No. We have several malting facilities across the country. The maltster is the one who deals primarily one on one with the producer in selecting the malt. They'll call it, and then it comes into their malting facility.

Agriculture committee  That's right, and then they malt it. In the malting process, basically they bring it to life to a certain point and then they shut it down by kilning the malt. Once it gets down to a certain moisture level, they put it on a train or a truck and they ship it to the brewer.