OnTap Magazine

In the last edition of On Tap, I wrote about our drive to change the current regulatory environment so that craft beers can be sold in supermarkets. Currently only wine and sparkling wine are permitted to be sold in grocery stores, which clearly provides the wine industry with an unfair advantage. With over 150 small craft breweries across the country who are still focused on recovering following the four alcohol bans during the Covid-19 national lockdown, opening the sale of beer in supermarkets would provide a major boost to these small businesses. The first leg of our campaign has been writing to the nine provincial liquor authorities requesting meetings to discuss amending the current legislation to allow beer to be sold in supermarkets. We are extremely encouraged that a number of provincial liquor authorities have responded and indicated their willingness to meet with us to discuss the issue further. So far, BASA has meet with the Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal liquor authorities and had constructive discussions with them on what would need to be actioned in order for brewers who are holders of micro-brewery or micro-manufacturing liquor licences to be sold in supermarkets. Representatives from these liquor authorities raised a number of questions including the benefits of beer being sold in grocery stores to government, industry stakeholders and communities as well as some of the regulatory measures that would need to be put in place. The BASA team will be responding to these questions, along with developing a formal proposal for the Mpumalanga liquor authority on piloting the sale of beer in supermarkets in the province. We look forward to continued engagements with these provinces and also meeting with the rest of the provincial liquor authorities over the coming months. We will keep On Tap readers updated on any new developments on this campaign. BASA ENGAGES WITH LIQUOR BOARDS ON BEER BEING SOLD IN SUPERMARKETS 10 | Summer 2022 | ontapmag.co.za