Alberta craft whisky lands on Costco shelves as trade war looms

Craft producers of Alberta whisky are getting a boost ahead of their busiest sales season and a looming U.S. ban on Canadian alcohol, as Costco liquor stores across the province have begun carrying a selection of locally made whiskies.

Last week, the retailer started stocking eight products from seven small Alberta distilleries at its 15 liquor stores, from Medicine Hat in the south to Grande Prairie in the north.

“If you’re into Alberta whisky, you’re gonna see it’s slightly different at each Costco,” said Bryce Parsons, president of the Alberta Craft Distillers Association and co-founder of True Wild Distilling, whose liquor is being stocked at Calgary’s Heritage Costco location.

The liquor store at the Costco Tsuut’ina in southwest Calgary has whisky from Wild Life Distillery in Canmore, Bridgeland Distillery in Calgary, Anohka Distillery near Stony Plain in Parkland County, and Eau Clare Distillery in Diamond Valley.

“People know what they want but this allows them to explore something new,” said Brian Lerner, manager of Costco Tsuut’ina liquor store, who said customers are increasingly interested in supporting locally made products.

“People want to buy things that have been made and produced with care from the people around us,” Lerner added.

Whisky from The Maligne Range distillery in Jasper and Burwood distillery in Calgary are also included in the Costco showcase.

While all of the distilleries provided information for Costco staff to be able to educate customers about the products, representatives from participating producers have also been visiting stores to offer tastings and educate customers about Alberta-made whisky.

“I think overall, people find it extremely exciting and very happy that someone like Costco — who has a great reach to Albertans — that they’re supporting an initiative like this, at this time,” Parsons said.

Earlier this year, the Alberta government introduced the Alberta Whisky Act, which lays out the requirements on how products can qualify for the Alberta Whisky designation, similar to Canadian Whisky branding.

A Costco rep attended a party to unveil the association’s Alberta Whisky logo back in July, which Parsons said got the ball rolling.

Costco stores carry roughly 4,000 unique items, whereas standard big box stores like Walmart have over 100,000 different products.

Because the retailer is highly selective about what it will stock, suppliers have to be able to demonstrate their product delivers exceptional value to members, can generate strong sales, and can be produced and distributed reliably at the scale the warehouse demands.

As a result, smaller brands often can’t produce the volume required to get their product a coveted space on a Costco shelf.