Supply chain delays could mean you'll soon be paying more for craft beer and wine

Canadians may soon be paying more for some of their favourite alcoholic beverages.

Shipping delays and backlogs at ports around the world are creating challenges for craft breweries and wineries, which are struggling to get everything from packaging materials, such as cardboard and bottles, to malt and other ingredients for their products.

供应链问题最初引起并加剧了Covid-19的大流行，导致了制造产品的商品和服务的成本增加，一些企业表示，他们必须将其传递给客户。

安大略省伦敦西部大学的理查德·艾维商学院（Richard Ivey Ivey Business School）的供应链专家弗雷泽·约翰逊（Fraser Johnson）说：“全球供应链又一团糟，啤酒和酿酒厂供应连锁店也不豁免。”

约翰逊说，例如，货运公司指控从中国将负载转移到美国的所谓现货价格已从美国大流行之前的2,000美元增加到高达20,000美元。根据Freightos数据，目前徘徊在15,000美元左右。

约翰逊正在预测，随着时间的流逝啤酒，葡萄酒和烈酒的价格将因此上升，并怀疑消费者可能会看到某些产品的短缺。

我认为您可以期望某些您喜欢的产品可能不一定总是很容易获得。- Fraser Johnson

约翰逊说：“这并不意味着……我们将用完啤酒和葡萄酒。但是我认为您可以期望您喜欢的一些产品可能不一定总是很容易获得。”

交货不可靠

Matthew Atkins is the owner and head brewer at Endeavour Brewery just outside of Edmonton.

The brewery uses some specialty grains that can come from Britain, Belgium or Germany, but Atkins said those deliveries have not been reliable.

"We had to find a different supplier of a similar style and substitute that out," he said.

阿特金斯（Atkins）还努力寻找可以包装他的精酿啤酒的罐子，因为需求量如此之高，当他最终找到供应商时，价格从18美分的罐中跃升到了23美分的罐头。

It's a significant impact to us in terms of the cost of our production.- Matthew Atkins

"It's a significant impact to us in terms of the cost of our production," he said.

酿酒师说，迄今为止，该业务能够吸收增加的增长，但是在接下来的几周里，他需要提高价格。

Atkins said, in the taproom, prices will likely go up by 50 cents to a dollar while a four-pack of beer may be an additional 25 to 50 cents.

"We definitely need to make sure we stay competitive, that we can pay our bills, but that profit we have to pay our bills is getting smaller and smaller," he said.

Planning far ahead

On the other side of the Rocky Mountains, Quails' Gate Winery in Kelowna, B.C., said it has been seeing challenges with the timing of its orders for glass bottles, which it gets from overseas.

店主托尼·斯图尔特（Tony Stewart）说：“我们看到的延迟最多为六到八周。通常，这与运输时机有关。”

斯图尔特说，考虑到这一点，酿酒厂正在计划。

"Basically, in anticipation that there could be delays, we've tried to fast track our orders for 2022 to ensure that the glass that we need is reserved and shipped as soon as it's available so that it's on site when we need to bottle," he said.

Stewart anticipates prices for the winery's products will go up over the next two yearsso the business can recoup the additional costs brought on by supply chain issues.

A need to think differently

理查德·艾维商学院（Richard Ivey Business School）研究的副院长加拉兹（Gal Raz）表示，这些问题应该促使企业进行不同的思考和创新。

拉兹说：“也许我们需要确保实际上确实有足够的库存。”

“我们在包装方面有问题。嗯，替代品是什么？……我有原材料。我可以从这些原材料中产生什么？”

拉兹说，鉴于破坏不太可能消失，继续思考盒子将很重要。

"I don't see us necessarily going back to normal," he said.