4-in-5 Ontarians approve of the fairness of The Beer Store's open ownership offer
Offer good for craft brewers, brings more fairness to selling beer, will make it easier to find a wider range of brands
TORONTO, Jan. 8, 2015 /CNW/ - Four-in-five (84%) Ontarians support The Beer Store's offer to open up ownership of the retail corporation to all Ontario-based brewers, a new poll conducted by Pollara Strategic Insights shows.
There is widespread and strong approval for the Beer Store offer, with a majority (53%) expressing strong approval. Only ten percent (10%) disapprove, with six percent (6%) unsure or unable to answer.
Pollara conducted the poll on behalf of The Beer Store on the evening of Wednesday, January 7, 2015. A representative sample of 526 randomly-selected Ontarians aged 19 and older was surveyed by telephone using live, professionally-trained survey interviewers. The survey results carry a margin of error of ±4.3%, 19 times out of 20.
"This is not a lukewarm response. This is clearly a very popular proposal with Ontarians," said Pollara Executive Vice-President Craig Worden. "Based on the announcement, the public is strongly supportive and sees it benefiting craft brewers, the industry as a whole, and themselves as beer consumers."
"This is what we set out to do. We wanted to provide more local and craft beer selection, to offer more support for small Ontario brewers and to open up ownership to all Ontario brewers. We listened and we acted, so we are pleased to see these results," said Beer Store President Ted Moroz.
Shedding light on the reasons behind this strongly positive reaction, the poll revealed some of the perspectives that the public holds about the announcement. For most Ontarians, the offer is seen as improving fairness in beer retailing.
- Eight-in-ten Ontarians (82%) feel that opening up ownership "will bring more fairness to selling beer in Ontario".
- Most (86%) feel "it will be good for Ontario-based micro and craft brewers" – half (50%) strongly so.
- However, 80% also feel "it will be good for all Ontario-based brewers" and
- Three-quarters (76%) feel that "it will strengthen Ontario's brewing industry".
- Ontarians also see some benefits for themselves in the announcement. As a consequence of this development:
- Eight-in-ten Ontarians feel that The Beer Store "will better reflect today's beer marketplace" (82%) and,
- "It will be easier to find a wider range of beer brands" (84%).
Background
About the Survey: On behalf of The Beer Store, Pollara Strategic Insights conducted a statistically-reliable telephone survey of a representative sample of 526 randomly-selected Ontarians aged 19 and older on the evening of Wednesday, January 7, 2015. The survey was conducted using live, professionally-trained survey interviewers. The survey results carry a margin of error of ± 4.3%, 19 times out of 20. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current gender, age, and region Census data to ensure a sample representative of the entire population of Ontarians aged 19 and older. Any discrepancies in or between numeric totals are due to rounding.
About The Beer Store: The Beer Store offers customers 490 brands, provided by 105 brewers. Approximately 1-in-4 brands come from small Canadian brewers. It is a completely open system that allows any brewer in the world to sell their brands in any store they choose. The Beer Store is deeply committed to responsible sale and not selling to minors and people who are intoxicated. More than 3.6 million customers were challenged in 2013 alone. It is also one of the greenest retailers in the world and collected more than 1.7 billion beer bottles in 2012-2013 (a 92 per cent return rate) and 300 million wine and spirit containers (a 80 per cent return rate). The Beer Store Employs 7,000 hard-working Ontarians with well-paying full and part-time jobs.
About Pollara Strategic Insights: Founded in 1980, Pollara Strategic Insights is one of Canada's premier full-service research firms – a collaborative team of senior research veterans who are passionate about conducting research through hands–on creativity and customized solutions. Taking full advantage of their comprehensive toolbox of industry-leading quantitative and qualitative methodologies and analytical techniques, Pollara provides research-based strategic advice to a wide array of clients across all sectors on a local, national, and global scale. For more information, please visit www.pollara.com.
Full Survey Results
Full survey results are appended to this release in the following pages:
| Question 1 – Impression of The Beer Store
As you may know, there are about 450 beer stores in Ontario operating under the name The Beer Store.
Overall, do you have a positive or negative impression of The Beer Store? Is that very or somewhat positive/negative?
|
||||||||
| RESULTS BY REGION: |
TOTAL |
Toronto |
905 GTA |
GTA Shadows |
East |
Southwest |
Steel Triangle |
North |
| Sample (Weighted) |
526 |
113 |
126 |
71 |
69 |
64 |
49 |
35 |
| Sample (Unweighted) |
526 |
109 |
127 |
66 |
72 |
62 |
50 |
40 |
| Very positive |
27% |
27% |
28% |
16% |
18% |
41% |
14% |
57% |
| Somewhat positive |
41% |
41% |
36% |
61% |
38% |
38% |
43% |
23% |
| Somewhat negative |
10% |
7% |
9% |
7% |
22% |
2% |
21% |
2% |
| Very negative |
7% |
9% |
8% |
6% |
6% |
6% |
5% |
5% |
| Don't know |
12% |
12% |
14% |
10% |
15% |
6% |
13% |
9% |
| Refused |
3% |
3% |
4% |
0% |
1% |
7% |
4% |
4% |
| Total Positive |
68% |
68% |
64% |
77% |
56% |
79% |
57% |
80% |
| Total Negative |
17% |
16% |
17% |
13% |
28% |
8% |
26% |
7% |
| Question 2 – Approval/Disapproval of Opening Up Ownership of The Beer Store
The Beer Store is currently owned by Labatt, Molson, and Sleeman. However, today, they announced that they are opening up ownership of The Beer Store to all Ontario-based brewers. Specifically, The Beer Store issued an open invitation to all Ontario-based brewers of all sizes – including micro and craft brewers – to become co-owners of The Beer Store, with seats on the Board of Directors.
Thinking about this… Overall, do you approve or disapprove of opening up ownership of The Beer Store to all Ontario-based brewers? Do you strongly or somewhat approve/disapprove? |
||||||||
| RESULTS BY REGION: |
TOTAL |
Toronto |
905 GTA |
GTA Shadows |
East |
Southwest |
Steel Triangle |
North |
| Sample (Weighted) |
526 |
113 |
126 |
71 |
69 |
64 |
49 |
35 |
| Sample (Unweighted) |
526 |
109 |
127 |
66 |
72 |
62 |
50 |
40 |
| Strongly approve |
53% |
45% |
64% |
46% |
58% |
61% |
46% |
38% |
| Somewhat approve |
31% |
32% |
21% |
45% |
30% |
22% |
42% |
37% |
| Somewhat disapprove |
3% |
4% |
3% |
1% |
3% |
0% |
1% |
4% |
| Strongly disapprove |
7% |
14% |
7% |
5% |
2% |
3% |
6% |
5% |
| Don't know |
5% |
4% |
4% |
3% |
5% |
9% |
3% |
10% |
| Refused |
1% |
1% |
1% |
0% |
2% |
1% |
2% |
3% |
| Total Approve |
84% |
77% |
85% |
91% |
88% |
83% |
88% |
75% |
| Total Disapprove |
10% |
18% |
10% |
6% |
5% |
3% |
7% |
9% |
| Question 3A – Perspectives on Announcement: Fairness Now, I am going to read to you a few statements about opening up ownership of The Beer Store to all Ontario-based brewers. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree. How about… It will bring more fairness to selling beer in Ontario
|
||||||||
| RESULTS BY REGION: |
TOTAL |
Toronto |
905 GTA |
GTA Shadows |
East |
Southwest |
Steel Triangle |
North |
| Sample (Weighted) |
526 |
113 |
126 |
71 |
69 |
64 |
49 |
35 |
| Sample (Unweighted) |
526 |
109 |
127 |
66 |
72 |
62 |
50 |
40 |
| Strongly agree |
44% |
35% |
48% |
40% |
45% |
62% |
33% |
45% |
| Somewhat agree |
38% |
43% |
36% |
46% |
26% |
24% |
46% |
44% |
| Somewhat disagree |
8% |
9% |
6% |
6% |
23% |
1% |
10% |
0% |
| Strongly disagree |
7% |
10% |
7% |
7% |
6% |
0% |
7% |
7% |
| Don't know |
2% |
1% |
2% |
1% |
1% |
11% |
4% |
2% |
| Refused |
1% |
1% |
1% |
0% |
0% |
2% |
0% |
2% |
| Total Agree |
82% |
78% |
84% |
86% |
71% |
86% |
79% |
89% |
| Total Disagree |
15% |
19% |
13% |
13% |
29% |
1% |
17% |
7% |
| Question 3B – Perspectives on Announcement: Good for Micro and Craft Brewers Now, I am going to read to you a few statements about opening up ownership of The Beer Store to all Ontario-based brewers. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree. How about… It will be good for Ontario-based micro and craft brewers
|
||||||||
| RESULTS BY REGION: |
TOTAL |
Toronto |
905 GTA |
GTA Shadows |
East |
Southwest |
Steel Triangle |
North |
| Sample (Weighted) |
526 |
113 |
126 |
71 |
69 |
64 |
49 |
35 |
| Sample (Unweighted) |
526 |
109 |
127 |
66 |
72 |
62 |
50 |
40 |
| Strongly agree |
50% |
47% |
55% |
54% |
41% |
59% |
31% |
63% |
| Somewhat agree |
36% |
32% |
35% |
38% |
44% |
26% |
55% |
21% |
| Somewhat disagree |
4% |
6% |
2% |
4% |
6% |
3% |
1% |
5% |
| Strongly disagree |
3% |
5% |
2% |
4% |
4% |
0% |
7% |
4% |
| Don't know |
6% |
9% |
4% |
1% |
6% |
11% |
6% |
6% |
| Refused |
1% |
1% |
2% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
0% |
1% |
| Total Agree |
86% |
79% |
90% |
92% |
85% |
85% |
86% |
84% |
| Total Disagree |
7% |
11% |
4% |
8% |
10% |
3% |
8% |
9% |
| Question 3C – Perspectives on Announcement: Good for All Brewers Now, I am going to read to you a few statements about opening up ownership of The Beer Store to all Ontario-based brewers. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree. How about… It will be good for all Ontario-based brewers. |
||||||||
| RESULTS BY REGION: |
TOTAL |
Toronto |
905 GTA |
GTA Shadows |
East |
Southwest |
Steel Triangle |
North |
| Sample (Weighted) |
526 |
113 |
126 |
71 |
69 |
64 |
49 |
35 |
| Sample (Unweighted) |
526 |
109 |
127 |
66 |
72 |
62 |
50 |
40 |
| Strongly agree |
40% |
35% |
49% |
37% |
32% |
42% |
38% |
36% |
| Somewhat agree |
40% |
43% |
35% |
40% |
37% |
41% |
43% |
49% |
| Somewhat disagree |
9% |
9% |
6% |
16% |
8% |
6% |
11% |
5% |
| Strongly disagree |
7% |
9% |
5% |
4% |
20% |
0% |
6% |
6% |
| Don't know |
3% |
2% |
4% |
3% |
3% |
9% |
2% |
2% |
| Refused |
1% |
1% |
1% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
0% |
2% |
| Total Agree |
80% |
78% |
84% |
77% |
69% |
83% |
81% |
85% |
| Total Disagree |
16% |
18% |
11% |
20% |
28% |
6% |
17% |
11% |
| Question 3D – Perspectives on Announcement: Strengthen Brewing Industry Now, I am going to read to you a few statements about opening up ownership of The Beer Store to all Ontario-based brewers. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree. How about… It will strengthen Ontario's brewing industry. |
||||||||
| RESULTS BY REGION: |
TOTAL |
Toronto |
905 GTA |
GTA Shadows |
East |
Southwest |
Steel Triangle |
North |
| Sample (Weighted) |
526 |
113 |
126 |
71 |
69 |
64 |
49 |
35 |
| Sample (Unweighted) |
526 |
109 |
127 |
66 |
72 |
62 |
50 |
40 |
| Strongly agree |
38% |
31% |
41% |
28% |
43% |
50% |
35% |
43% |
| Somewhat agree |
38% |
34% |
43% |
49% |
36% |
26% |
37% |
41% |
| Somewhat disagree |
12% |
24% |
6% |
16% |
9% |
8% |
13% |
7% |
| Strongly disagree |
5% |
6% |
6% |
4% |
6% |
1% |
9% |
7% |
| Don't know |
5% |
3% |
4% |
3% |
6% |
14% |
6% |
2% |
| Refused |
2% |
2% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
0% |
0% |
| Total Agree |
76% |
65% |
84% |
78% |
79% |
76% |
72% |
84% |
| Total Disagree |
17% |
30% |
12% |
20% |
15% |
9% |
22% |
14% |
| Question 3E – Perspectives on Announcement: Better Reflect Today's Beer Marketplace Now, I am going to read to you a few statements about opening up ownership of The Beer Store to all Ontario-based brewers. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree: The Beer Store will better reflect today's beer marketplace because of this. |
||||||||
| RESULTS BY REGION: |
TOTAL |
Toronto |
905 GTA |
GTA Shadows |
East |
Southwest |
Steel Triangle |
North |
| Sample (Weighted) |
526 |
113 |
126 |
71 |
69 |
64 |
49 |
35 |
| Sample (Unweighted) |
526 |
109 |
127 |
66 |
72 |
62 |
50 |
40 |
| Strongly agree |
45% |
43% |
51% |
35% |
38% |
54% |
38% |
50% |
| Somewhat agree |
37% |
36% |
32% |
52% |
33% |
34% |
42% |
35% |
| Somewhat disagree |
8% |
11% |
5% |
9% |
7% |
6% |
10% |
9% |
| Strongly disagree |
6% |
8% |
4% |
4% |
20% |
0% |
6% |
2% |
| Don't know |
3% |
1% |
8% |
0% |
2% |
5% |
4% |
2% |
| Refused |
1% |
1% |
0% |
0% |
0% |
1% |
0% |
2% |
| Total Agree |
82% |
79% |
82% |
87% |
71% |
88% |
80% |
85% |
| Total Disagree |
14% |
19% |
9% |
13% |
27% |
6% |
16% |
11% |
| Question 3F – Perspectives on Announcement: Easier to Find Wider Range of Brands Now, I am going to read to you a few statements about opening up ownership of The Beer Store to all Ontario-based brewers. For each, please tell me if you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree: It will be easier to find a wider range of beer brands because of this. |
||||||||
| RESULTS BY REGION: |
TOTAL |
Toronto |
905 GTA |
GTA Shadows |
East |
Southwest |
Steel Triangle |
North |
| Sample (Weighted) |
526 |
113 |
126 |
71 |
69 |
64 |
49 |
35 |
| Sample (Unweighted) |
526 |
109 |
127 |
66 |
72 |
62 |
50 |
40 |
| Strongly agree |
56% |
56% |
57% |
59% |
43% |
64% |
53% |
63% |
| Somewhat agree |
28% |
30% |
29% |
33% |
21% |
23% |
31% |
26% |
| Somewhat disagree |
6% |
7% |
5% |
3% |
8% |
4% |
12% |
2% |
| Strongly disagree |
6% |
4% |
5% |
4% |
21% |
3% |
1% |
2% |
| Don't know |
4% |
2% |
3% |
1% |
7% |
6% |
3% |
7% |
| Refused |
0% |
1% |
1% |
- |
- |
0% |
- |
- |
| Total Agree |
84% |
86% |
86% |
92% |
64% |
87% |
84% |
89% |
| Total Disagree |
12% |
11% |
10% |
7% |
29% |
7% |
13% |
4% |
SOURCE The Beer Store
Please contact: Bill Walker, [email protected], 416-624-3936; Craig Worden, Executive Vice President, Pollara Strategic Insights, [email protected], 416-509-4596
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