Irking Me | Why Are We Standing in the Way of International and National Sales?

Importing and exporting alcohol from outside BC and Canada is a lot of fun! Its  exciting to work with clients to facilitate new and different products on our BC Liquor Store shelves.  When an agency brings products into BC, there are many steps that are happening before and after each other and even at the same time.  Staying ahead of these steps and forseeing the issues in critical, if agencies want a chance to be successful at this highly competitive business.

First, the agency needs to get an import agent license. To do this, they must secure the exclusive rights to sell the product from a manufacturer outside of BC. Once approved, by both the LCRB and LDB, they are free to get the product in the country/province.

However, without fail, clients come to me facing unpredictable pricing issues, often after their product has arrived in the province and often after they have already set up their pricing with the LDB.  Many hoops into the process they hit a wall that leaves them either making a loss, working with razor thin margins, or having to re-strategize their whole business for selling to BC.  All because of lack of transparency when it comes to BC Tax and Pricing.

Let me give you an example.  My client gets his product shipped to BC from another country.  The product arrives safely, he is charged a $5,000 transportation fee which is expected.  However, the port his product came in is known for drug trafficking.  Why is this important?  His shipment was investigated, and he was given an additional $5,500 bill.  Now his import has an additional $10,500 cost associated to it, plus the container company bills him for “further use of the container” because they can’t use their own container.

At this point he has gone through enough of the steps to get access to the BC pricing tool.  To his surprise the unit/bottle price is almost double what he had expected to charge the customer.  His competitive advantage evaporated in a way he could not have predicted.  BC Untransparent taxes plus the extra $10,500 bills he receives upon arrival is oddly added to the total value effecting the liquor store price for customers.

This kind of issue is common and makes pricing strategies or financial planning near to impossible for importers of alcohol to BC.  The impossibility of competing on price, razor thin margins and making additional investments to get other products into the market to cover the loss are too common.

When the market is scoped out to be a great growth opportunity getting access to the BC price simulator so late in the process is making bringing product to BC painful if not impossible.  Not to mention you acquire significant costs before even getting to this point.  Then there is the difficulty to get a listing in a store, and nearly impossibility of getting in a government store.

By offering the pricing simulator earlier in the process or as a public tool we would make a significant change in supporting businesses in this space locally and further away from BC.  Transparency in business partnerships is key for success, with widespread businesses and consultants purely focusing on us all communicating better and finding ways to work together better.  Just like telling our children what is for dinner or what activity we are doing tomorrow, we all do better when we know what to expect.  I think there is a great opportunity in get back to these basic business principles for BC.

If you are looking for an import agency to help you get your liquor anywhere in North America, including BC?  Glen at Bon Adventures Beverages does great work for a few different brands.  Reach out to rebecca@thriveadvisors.ca to get an intro to established import agents.