Supply chain delays could mean you'll soon be paying more for craft beer and wine

Canadians may soon be paying more for some of their favourite alcoholic beverages.

Shipping delays and backlogs at ports around the world are creating challenges for craft breweries and wineries, which are struggling to get everything from packaging materials, such as cardboard and bottles, to malt and other ingredients for their products.

The supply chain issues, initially prompted and then exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, have resulted in increased costs for the goods and services that go into making their products, and some businesses say they will have to pass those on to customers.

"Supply chains globally are a mess, and the beer and winery supply chains are not exempt from this," said Fraser Johnson, a supply chain expert from the Richard Ivey Business School at Western University in London, Ont. 

For example, Johnson said, the so-called spot price that freight companies charge to move a load from China to the western U.S. has gone from $2,000 US prior to the pandemic to as high as $20,000. According to Freightos Data, it is hovering around $15,000 currently.

Johnson is projecting that, over time, prices for beer, wine and spirits will rise as a result and suspects consumers could see shortages of some products.

"It doesn't mean that ... we're going to run out of beer and wine. But I think you can expect that some of your favourite products might not necessarily be readily available all the time," Johnson said.

Matthew Atkins is the owner and head brewer at Endeavour Brewery just outside of Edmonton. 

The brewery uses some specialty grains that can come from Britain, Belgium or Germany, but Atkins said those deliveries have not been reliable.

"We had to find a different supplier of a similar style and substitute that out," he said.

Atkins also struggled to find cans in which to package his craft beer because there was such high demand, and when he finally found a supplier, prices had jumped from 18 cents a can to more than 23 cents a can.

"It's a significant impact to us in terms of the cost of our production," he said.

The head brewer said the business has so far been able to absorb the increases, but in the coming weeks, he will need to raise prices.

Atkins said, in the taproom, prices will likely go up by 50 cents to a dollar while a four-pack of beer may be an additional 25 to 50 cents.