HALIFAX, N.S. – Nova Scotia Craft Brewers Association (CBANS) has announced the release of its annual craft beer report for 2021, a year in which it says the industry “has experienced rapid growth due to strong consumer demand”, but is also facing to “increasing challenges and concern that government and regulators don’t seem to be listening.
The growth is highlighted in the announcement as follows:
By the numbers, NS Craft Beer has grown into an impressive local industry with over 70 independent breweries operating in all regions of the province. Despite nearly two full years of pandemic conditions, local growers continue to reinvigorate small towns, retain young workers and create tourist destinations. There are currently over 1150 skilled, talented and diverse workers in this industry. In jobs per liter produced, this is more than 35 times the number of a multinational brewery when producing in the province. In fact, nearly 20% of all provincial beer sales are made locally, with steady double-digit growth in an otherwise declining category.
“Today’s craft brewer is in production, retail, hospitality and community events, and they come in all shapes and sizes,” CBANS president Brian Titus said in a statement. “They have extended their economic impact to every corner of the province and the one thing that connects them is a passion for creating great craft beers that can be proudly called Nova Scotian.
Despite this success, the announcement also warns that a combination of “outdated government regulations and new punitive rules,” including the “highest government margins and lowest production limits imposed on local producers at scale national”, make the province “an increasingly inhospitable region”. place for craft liquor producers.
“The local industry has really exploded, especially over the last decade, but the government refuses to even discuss ways to adapt and support that,” said Debbi MacDonald, chief executive of CBANS. “We’ve been warning about problems for years, and it would be a shame to see such a large part of the economy stagnate due to bureaucracy and an unwillingness to change regulations.”
For more details, see the Full annual report on CBANS website.
Source and photo: Craft Brewers Association of Nova Scotia
