A distillery is halting production of discount four-litre vodka jugs after the Alberta minister responsible for the province's liquor industry called out the product for not being responsibly priced.
  • TalesOfTrees@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    7 months ago

    I wonder what the issue is. Seems to me that using something as ubiquitous as the 1 gallon milk jug makes sense. Are they really concerned that someone that’s tempted to drink the entire gallon will be stopped by having to purchase more than one container? The article has a strong focus on the pricing of the vodka… so, who on the Canadian Liquor Board is getting paid to keep prices up? “Spirit of the Albertans” – seems disingenuous to say that the locals are in support of price fixing, as the article seems to imply.

    The end of the article hints at spirits-makers being able to bulk purchase alcohol to be blended, and how newer distileries/spirits-makers aren’t required to make the same investment into producing their own base alcohol as was previously required. The way it reads, makes it seem like the article is being sponsored by the big makers in terms of how “small makers” have the unfair advantage and that it’s the small guys lowering prices that is the bad thing.

    <shrug> My interpretation could be off, but my tl;dr is corporate has a problem with prices effecting profits, so hit-piece on the independents it is.

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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      7 months ago

      The issue is that we drink 4L of liquid out of bags, not out of jugs, so now they’ll need to change the container to fit Canadian tradition.

    • aDuckk@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Your interpretation is in line with conversations I’ve had with store clerks. The big distilleries, Smirnoff etc, don’t like the free market competition and apparently this isn’t the first time they’ve gotten the province involved.

      • TalesOfTrees@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
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        7 months ago

        As I admittedly don’t actually know much of Canadian politics, especially so at the provincial level, I had to make some broad assumptions but it seems that such practices are just a given at this point, regardless of geographical location. I found out recently that despite living in the land of the so-called free, it is apparently very much frowned upon to just like… open a roadside tavern for weary travelers. Something about health codes and livestock in common areas or something <shrug>.

    • Swordgeek@lemmy.ca
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      7 months ago

      The ‘issue,’ as far as I’m concerned, is this:

      Pictures of the jug and price circulated as a funny/embarrassing " 'berta, fuck yeah!" meme. Absolutely nobody cared in the slightest bit.

      So of course Marlaina and co. jumped on it to make headlines and noise about being the authority on good corporate behaviour, and looking out for the best interests of Albertans, etc…

      It’s UCP noise-making and flag-waving, nothing more.

  • m-p{3}@lemmy.ca
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    7 months ago

    So are they going to be stopping buyers from buying more than 4L in multiple containers? Seems like that will generate more waste, this isn’t an eco-friendly policy.

      • enkers@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        My issue is honestly the marketing. Calling it “the party jug” pretty much tells everyone exactly what it’s for, and let’s just say it’s probably not for your doctor recommended 1-2 drink daily maximum. Now I’m not a teetotaller or anything, but this is obviously directed at quite a young audience, which I think is a bit problematic.

        • m0darn@lemmy.ca
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          7 months ago

          Calling it “the party jug” pretty much tells everyone exactly what it’s for…

          …sharing with a large group of people?

          this is obviously directed at quite a young audience

          To me it seems aimed at people that want to buy a lot of alcohol for not very much money, which tends to be young people, but they don’t seem to have done anything in particular to target young people.

          1 liter of vodka is more than enough to kill a healthy adult by alcohol poisoning. It’s not the size of the container that prevents that. Are these 4 liter jugs less expensive than 1 liter bottles?

          If you want to prevent alcohol deaths you should focus on addressing the causes of alcoholism (I’m not an expert but shooting from the hip: loneliness and hopelessness) and drunk driving (again, not an expert but: transit infrastructure).

          • Sprawlie@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            You kind of countered your own comment at the end

            One of the leading causes of alcoholism is cheap access to alcohol

            • m0darn@lemmy.ca
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              7 months ago

              I’ve done some toggling and found this article abstract.

              and what I have to say is this:

              Touche.

              Key sentence:

              The results also suggested that compared with general price increases, minimum- pricing policies might affect harmful drinkers proportionally more…

              I guess I’d be pleased to see the provincial Alberta government embrace epidemiologically based policy making. Especially if they do it consistently and not just when it aligns with their ideology.

          • Dasus@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            1 liter of vodka is more than enough to kill a healthy adult by alcohol poisoning.

            Laughs in Finnish

        • SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          7 months ago

          I don’t think it’s marketed to young people, I think it’s marketed to severe alcoholics. There are a shocking number of people who will go through this jug in a day or two.

          I agree with the minister’s concerns that it’s too cheap. I recently moved from BC and it seems that bottom shelf hard liquor in general in Alberta is too cheap.

              • John_McMurray@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Go the fuck home, moron. Charging more doesn’t slow the problem drinkers down, it just adds to their troubles.

                • SilentStorms@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  7 months ago

                  I am home, suck my dick

                  I’m not saying just sin tax the shit, it’s too cheap in proportion to other alcohol. The low-income problem drinker who switches from beer to jugs of vodka to save money is going to make their problem much much worse.

          • enkers@sh.itjust.works
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            7 months ago

            I personally think there should be some hard ethical bounds on marketing when it comes to potentially life wrecking substances. We do this for cigarettes, right?

            Now I think humankind’s relationship with alcohol is a bit more nuanced, but when alcohol packaging starts to look like sugary cereal boxes, that’s where I draw the line. Admittedly this isn’t quite there, but it’s borderline IMO. I don’t think we should be encouraging binge drinking by selling party sized mix packs like this. Mind you, it’s not the size or price that bothers me. My grandma always bought gallon bottles of booze from the US on the cheap, but they’d last her a few years. That’s fine. Sell it without fun-dinosaur, and put on a boring-ass, noname vodka label, and it’s fine by me.

            Just an addendum, I feel similarly about marketing of sugary cereal to children.