It’s been a little while since the last posting but there has certainly been a lot going on.  This week our private order of Garrison beers were released to consumers.  The LCBO has been e-mailing everyone who ordered with instruction that they can now pick up their Garrison at the LCBO warehouse in downtown Toronto […]

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Here’s a funny story about what I needed to do to ensure that the Garrison private order met with the LCBO’s paperwork policies. After I submitted the order paperwork, all 104 pages of it, I was contacted by the LCBO’s private ordering department about Garrison’s address.  For background, about three years ago Garrison moved locations […]

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The way a private order works conceptually is simple.  There’s a certain number of cases of beer to sell, so consumers are found who are willing to buy the cases until the set number is hit.  In an attempt to simplify how consumers can participate in private orders, I created a web site whereby consumers […]

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As you can imagine, a lot goes into the price of a case of beer that you pay.  It starts, of course, with the cost from the brewery itself.  I’m sure this is the case with many industries – the original price is topped up with all kinds of stuff, just like an airplane ticket. […]

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Once all the agent paperwork was finished, it was time to get down to business.  Working with Brian Titus, the president of Garrison, we decided the best first step to bring Garrison to Ontario was a private order. Basically there are three ways beer can be distributed in Ontario.  The first is to have a […]

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Becoming an agent in Ontario (also known as “Manufacturer’s Representative”) is not as easy as declaring “I’m an agent now!” The first step in becoming an importer in this province is actually quite challenging, and I’ll explain why. Agents are licensed by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), the government body responsible for […]

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It was late last year when I decided that becoming an import agent (also known as a manufacturer’s representative) would be something worth pursuing.  Since the founding of Bar Towel a number of years ago, we have heard many tales about what it was like to do business with the LCBO from an importing standpoint.  […]

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Well, Free Our Beer is going to get a lot more exciting in the coming weeks and months. As announced here and here, Cecktor Limited, my corporation, has been granted a license to represent a manufacturer from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO). What this means is that I am now an importer.  […]

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