The NSLC decision to get the American alcohol from its shelves means that it has to store almost 600,000 alcohol units as part of the province’s response to the current commercial war with the United States.
As of March 6, among the more than 400 American products in stores and stores and traffic orders, there were 587,153 product units that were owned by the NSLC, according to the documentation obtained by CBC News through a request for freedom of information.
“That is many bottles!” Dave Dipersio, senior vice president of Corporate Affairs of the NSLC, wrote in an email other company officials that same day.
The NSLC eliminated the American alcohol of its shelves in early March after the president of the United States, Donald Trump, imposed tariffs on Canadian goods. A previous month of the previous month was arrested to take out the alcohol from the United States after Trump initially did not continue with the implementation of tariffs.
The last order made by the NSLC for American alcohol was on January 2, 2025.
How much is alcohol?
The product that is stored includes things that vary in size from a mini 50 milliliter liqueur bottle to a three -liter wine bottle.
The retail value was $ 14,896,652.
Citing security reasons, the NSLC refused to say where American alcohol is stored and would not allow CBC to see it.
None of the products extracted was cannabis since the NSLC has no cannabis cultivated in the United States.
The documents reveal some surprising details about what constitutes an American product.
“There are significant beer brands that customers can perceive as Americans (for example, Bud, Bud Light & Cours) that are produced in Canada and are not included in the list of products that were eliminated,” said a document from the February 3 company prepared for the Minister of Finance.
For example, the Oland Brewery on Agricola de Halifax is part of the Anheuser-Busch Inbev Global Company. Beers like Budweiser and Bud Light are made there.
Where is the convenience of the south?
And although Southern Comfort could evoke visions of great easy, since it is “the spirit of New Orleans”, according to their label, details such as that made it initially classified as American and, therefore, eliminated from the shelves.
However, Southern Comfort is produced and bottled in Montreal, and is now back on the shelves.
It was a similar story for Goldschläger, the Cinnamon Schnappps that includes gold flakes. It was also initially taken from the shelves.
“Sazerac Distilleries of Canada for Sazerac Company. Louisville, Ky, USA.”, Sample the posterior label of the product.
For the manufacturer of Bacardi, he did not want to be labeled as an American product, “since our rums are a product of Puerto Rico,” wrote the regional director of the company for Atlantic Canada in an email of February 26 to some NSLC officials.
Puerto Rico is an unbuilt -up American territory, so Bacardi’s products remain available for sale through the NSLC.
The elimination of American drink is not the first time that the NSLC stopped selling the products of a country. In 2022, he eliminated Russian vodka due to the invasion of the country of Ukraine. That prohibition remains in place.
US sales
For the fiscal year from April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, which would also be the most current fiscal year for which American products were available for the whole year, sales of US products totaled approximately $ 18 million of the $ 753 million in sales of beverage alcohol.
The data provided by the NSLC shows that almost half of US sales were in California products, mostly wine. Adding to Kentucky and Tennessee to the mixture, the three states represented about 85 percent of sales.
As for how long the NSLC will maintain the American alcohol outside its shelves, the company plans to do it until the province indicates in another way.
The decision to pull American products has been good news for New Scotland alcohol producers.
From March 4 to July 11, Nova Scotia Wine Sales increased by 14.5 percent and New Scotland spiritual products increased by 26.7 percent, compared to the same time last year.
Canadian wines sales increased by 12.9 percent, while Canadian whiskey sales increased by 9.2 percent during the same period of time.
“I think that buyers in general have been responding and looking for more local products and Canadian products,” said NSLC spokeswoman Te Terah McKinnon. “In general, we receive some questions [about American alcohol]But I think the numbers are shown in our sales to say they are exploring products closer to home. “
Compass Distillers makes a variety of spirits, including Gin and Ron, many sold through the NSLC. President Graham Collins said that although compass products such as Gin have not seen an increase in NSLC sales because most competitors are based on Europeans, they have seen an increase in Ron sales.
“The biggest difference from a NSLC perspective is simply that the NSLC and people in general remind us of all that buying local, buying Canadian is a better strategy,” said Collins. “And I think people are a little more focused on that sense.”
Compass distills alcohol from home on Agricola Street, which also includes a bar. Collins said the company’s customer base has long prioritized the local purchase.
“I think the current political climate helps encourage that behavior in a generalized way,” he said.
Private wine and specialized stores
For people who buy in private wine and specialty stores in the province, today they will notice the lack of American products.
Although private, these companies must order products through the NSLC to put them on their shelves.
The lack of American products is a simple issue of logistics.
“The NSLC will no longer buy products in its name,” the NSLC wrote in a document aimed at private and specialty private stores.
The same order also applies to bars and restaurants.
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