{"id":672679,"date":"2026-05-16T04:31:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/672679\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T04:31:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T04:31:09","slug":"liquor-marts-to-sell-last-of-u-s-booze-set-aside-during-boycott-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/672679\/","title":{"rendered":"Liquor Marts to sell last of U.S. booze set aside during boycott \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liquor Marts will hold a \u201clast chance\u201d sale on American wines, liqueurs and mixed drinks, as Manitoba pushes to off-load its stockpile of U.S. booze.<\/p>\n

Premier Wab Kinew launched a provincewide boycott of American alcohol in March 2025 to fight back against tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump. U.S.-made products returned to the shelves in December, but Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries has not placed new orders since the boycott began.<\/p>\n

As of early May, the inventory had a value of roughly $3.4 million, which is roughly one-third of what was removed from shelves and placed in storage, the Crown corporation said Friday.<\/p>\n

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MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS FILES<\/p>\n

On Monday, MLL will offer discounts on more than 120 U.S.-made white and ros\u00e9 wines, liqueurs and other products.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cLiquor Mart customers responded very positively when we first put out our remaining U.S. inventory for sale in December, but lately interest in these products is somewhat slower. That\u2019s not surprising, as Manitobans have developed a real affinity for Canadian products over the last year,\u201d said Robert Holmberg, executive vice-president of liquor and cannabis operations, in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile most U.S.-made products aren\u2019t near expiring yet, a few of the liqueurs are starting to approach the end of their retail shelf life \u2014 that\u2019s why we\u2019re moving them to the \u201clast chance\u201d section and selling them at a reduced price.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday, MLL will offer discounts on more than 120 U.S.-made white and ros\u00e9 wines, liqueurs and other products. The sale will involve Liquor Marts across the province, and availability will vary by location while supplies last.<\/p>\n

Holmberg said the Crown corporation regularly offers so-called last chance pricing on items approaching best-before dates or on products that won\u2019t be reordered. It allows room on shelves for new products.<\/p>\n

Minister Glen Simard, whose portfolio includes the Crown corporation, said he hopes Manitobans will continue to buy Canadian products, which have grown more popular since the boycott began.<\/p>\n

Data from MLL show Canadian spirit sales increased by 9 per cent and Canadian wine sales are up by 12 per cent, year-over-year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s been great support\u2026 Manitobans are going towards Manitoban and Canadian products like they never had before. We\u2019re really excited about that,\u201d Simard said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that we\u2019re planning on bringing in anymore U.S. booze in the near future, and we\u2019re just going to make sure that the product that we did have in stock is sold and not gone to waste.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of early May, MLL had sold a retail value of about $11.6 million worth of American alcohol.<\/p>\n

In January, the province issued a news release announcing it had donated $6.6 million from the proceeds of that liquor sale to charities; Simard said that practice will continue until the inventory is depleted.<\/p>\n

Reintroducing U.S.-made products to Liquor Marts in December helped avoid the waste of roughly $4 million worth of goods that would have spoiled by mid-summer 2027. Since the boycott took hold, MLL has disposed of about $287,000 (value cost) of expired alcohol.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Crown corporation said every U.S. product in the remaining inventory is being distributed.<\/p>\n

Kinew has said the boycott is expected to take an $80-million bite annually out of the U.S. economy.<\/p>\n

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Tyler<\/p>\n

Tyler Searle
Reporter
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Tyler Searle is a multimedia producer who writes for the Free Press\u2019s city desk. A graduate of Red River College Polytechnic\u2019s creative communications program, he wrote for the Stonewall Teulon Tribune, Selkirk Record and Express Weekly News before joining the paper in 2022.\u00a0Read more about Tyler<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Every piece of reporting Tyler produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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