Ontario grocers feel 'hoodwinked' by alcohol bottle return rules

Ontario grocery stores — particularly smaller, independent shops — say new bottle return requirements that were sprung on them a week before they're set to take effect may make it impossible to participate in Premier Doug Ford's expansion of alcohol sales.

Grocery stores that aren't already selling alcohol can start stocking their shelves with beer, wine and coolers as of Thursday, the next step in Ford's expedited rollout.

Uptake has been relatively low, with just over 400 new grocery stores signing on to join the existing 450 grocers licensed to sell alcohol, out of around 5,000 such stores in the province.

Grocery stores were already concerned that those that sell alcohol will also have to accept empties.

Having the smell of stale beer mingling with the smell of fresh food — and having to put not-quite-entirely-empty bottles that become fruit-fly magnets near produce sections — would not be good for business, they said.

But with new and detailed requirements communicated to them this week by the Liquor Control Board of Ontario just days before they begin, retailers say they don't know how they will make it work, and some are planning to hand back their licences.

"We feel hoodwinked by this," said Brad Fletcher, president of The Village Grocer in Markham.

His store has been licensed since 2019, but he does not see any way to continue making it work once they have to accept, sort, clean and palletize empties and associated packaging.

"We, for a long time, have been questioning the profitability of carrying beer and wine in our store," he said.   

"It has been a struggle, with low margins that we've been receiving. We weren't making any money on it at all, and maybe, in fact, losing some. But we did it as a convenience to our customers."

Stores such as The Village Grocer that are within a five-kilometre radius of a Beer Store are exempt from having to accept empties until Jan. 1, 2026, so that is when the store is planning to stop selling alcohol, Fletcher said.

"We are prepared to hand our licence back at the 11th hour," he said. "Our customers love it, but at the same time, we're not built to be a bottle depot for returns."

Stores were told earlier this year that there would be a requirement to accept empties, but the details released this week are taking many by surprise.

Stores will have to accept not just bottles and cans, but packaging such as bags, boxes, plastic rings and bottle caps. They will have to sort empties into four different categories, including clear glass and coloured glass. They will have to package refillable containers so they don't break in transit to The Beer Store. They will have to ensure the others are suitable for recycling, which grocers are interpreting to mean taking any cigarette butts out of bottles and cleaning them.