Description: Ontario has 90 craft beer makers. Although they control only 5% of the market, these small brewers provide 30% of the employment in the industry. You would think that encouraging this market segment would be something the government would want to do. But the Beer Store, an effective monopoly controlled by 3 large foreign owned brewers, makes it hard for the small brewers to grow their market share via such practices as listing fees and controlling space allocated within the stores.

Source: Globe and Mail.com

Date: November 2, 2014, updated November 3, 2014

Link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/logic-of-ontarios-foreign-owned-beer-monopoly-has-gone-skunky/article21420873/

Points for Discussion:

1) Why would the Ontario government continue to favour the traditional model of beer distribution in the face of the employment creation offered by the small brewers?

2) What strategies might the small brewers employ to grow their market share?

3) What factors have sparked this growth in the craft brewing industry?