By Erika Stark
Knocking back a cold one with dinner? So are most Canadians.
Though beer exports have decreased by 40 percent in the last decade, within the country, beer is still Canada’s favourite alcoholic beverage, according to Statistics Canada.
Last year, Canada exported $194,017,000 worth of beer to the United States, compared to $324,170,000 in 2003.
Canadian beer also gets exported elsewhere, but that information isn’t tracked by Statistics Canada, said Luke Harford, the president of Beer Canada, a national trade organization.
He attributed the decline to changing strategies in the North American brewery industry, as well as the economic downturn in the U.S.
“Declining exports are not a concern at this point as Canadian brewers are focused on selling beer internally,” Harford said in an email.
And it seems to be successful – last year, Canadians spent an average of $317 on beer, compared to $225 on wine, according to Statistics Canada.
“The beer economy stretches way back,” said Jacqueline Palladini, a senior economist at the Conference Board of Canada. “It’s one of the first industries that ever happened in Canada and it was certainly one of our first export industries along with the fur trade, so it has deep, deep roots.”
According to a new report by the Conference Board, increasing beer exports by $10 million, or 3.5 percent, would support the creation of 70 jobs and an increase to Canada’s gross domestic product.
“It actually benefits Canada’s economy by $10.54 million and that’s because we have a lot of spin-off benefits,” she explained. “Each time (the beer) goes through a new industry, there’s value added, so the benefits end up being a bit more than what the actual value of the exports were.”
Harford said exploring other beer markets as well as a full economic recovery in the U.S. could help reverse the trend.
A nationwide industry
Cracking open a beer in Ontario has economic impacts in many other parts of the country, said Palladini.
“If you were to buy a beer in Ontario, the supply chain starts with malting and barley grown in the prairie provinces,” she explained. “Once that barley is grown, it has to be transported all the way to through the prairies to Ontario to be brewed. So you’ve already affected the agricultural industry and the transportation and warehousing industry.”
Though they join the supply chain a little later, imported brews also support a variety of industries, providing jobs in the transportation, wholesale and retail industries, says Palladini.
Imports on the rise
Beer imports themselves are trending in the opposite direction as exports. In 2012, Canada imported $593,555,698 worth of beer, with nearly half coming from either the U.S. or the Netherlands. Since 2003, they’ve increased nearly 77 per cent.
“Increasing import sales are not a bad thing as they generate interest and excitement for the beer category,” said Harford.
With an annual tax revenue of roughly $5.8-billion, Palladini says Canada’s beer industry is alive and well.
“It’s creating a lot of jobs and generating a lot of income.”
Header photo courtesy flickr user HeadRCrasher