A local company is welcoming the Province's work to expand the sale of cider and spirit-based coolers to hotel beer vendors.

"This is one step in the right direction," Marcus Wiebe of Dead Horse Cider Co. says, adding the legislation will help bring cider to more people outside urban areas.

"Being a rural cidery this is great because it helps us get our cider to more locations around the province," he says. "We hope many more steps are to come to help grow the cider industry in Manitoba."

The changes were introduced in the Manitoba legislature recently by Crown Services Minister Colleen Mayer.

"Our government is focused on reducing red tape that holds our province back and limits consumer choice," Mayer says. "We are proud to provide greater choice and convenience for Manitoba consumers, with more retail and product options closer to home."

The amendments under The Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Control Act would reduce red tape, provide greater consumer choice and bring rural community product offerings in line with urban centres where Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries (MBLL) operates retail locations. Currently, hotel beer vendors are restricted to selling beer and malt-based coolers, and can only sell spirit-based coolers and ciders under certain conditions such as being located a specific distance from a liquor vendor.

"The changes provide the opportunity for businesses to expand their product assortment to satisfy customer demand," Mayer adds. "A greater assortment of products closer to home is good news for the Manitoba consumer."

Wiebe says there's still more work to be done, noting they are currently taxed at more than triple the rate of beer. "We'd like to see a solution soon."

Dead Horse Cider was created last year out of Wiebe's Burwalde Juice Co. after seeing too many apples go to waste around the province. While fresh juice has a short shelf life, pivoting to a hard cider meant creating a product that stays indefinitely, "made with Manitoba apples that weren't being used for anything."

However, he says being a local company should also mean more competitive advantage. "When you're value-adding in the province I shouldn't be paying the same markup price as a company producing all their cider in the U.S and shipping it here... I'm hoping to add something to the economy locally."

He notes other provinces have addressed the issue and remains hopeful they'll see a solution in Manitoba soon.

Related Article: Custom Fruit Press Open For Business In The Pembina Valley https://www.pembinavalleyonline.com/local/custom-fruit-press-open-for-business-in-the-pembina-valley

Wiebe also operates Covenant Growers which has provided much of the sweet corn in the past for the Morden Corn and Apple festival.