The Spike Pub & Liquor Store

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Agreement #40026059 Publican the T he Alliance ofBeverage Licensees Store Pub &Liquor The Spike Pub Cuisine Tech Trends Accessories Value Your ofthe Sign Times Fall 2010 IT’S GOOD TO BE HERE .

Thanks for pouring Brockton IPA. Well hopped, refreshing and already a local favourite.

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On the Cover The Spike Pub & Liquor Store Cheryl Semenuik

Quarterly Publication for the Alliance of Beverage Licensees 20 200-948 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1N9 T 604-688-5560 F 604-688-8560 Toll free 1-800-663-4883 [email protected] www.ablebc.ca

2009-2010 Board of Directors President Al McCreary Past President Al Arbuthnot Vice President Jonathan Cross 8 14 22 26 Vice President Poma Dhaliwal Vice President LRS Salim Karim Vice President LP Matthew MacNeil the Vice President Ronnie Paterson Treasurer Roger Gibson Executive Director Kim Haakstad Directors Brady Beruschi, Al Deacon, Mariana Fiddler, Mike Jahnke, John Lepinski, Don Lutzak, IT’S GOOD Kurt Pyrch, Danny Rickaby, Grant Smith PublicanFall 2010 Director at Large Dave Crown

Designed, Produced & Published by: TO BE HERE. EMC Publications Features Departments 19073 63 Avenue, Surrey BC V3S 8G7 Ph: 604-574-4577 1-800-667-0955 Fax: 604-574-2196 6 Liquor Serving Sizes 4 President's Message [email protected] 8 Sign of the Times www.emcmarketing.com 5 Executive Director's Report Publisher Joyce Hayne 14 Value Your Accessories 6 LCLB Report Designer Krysta Furioso Copy Editor Debbie Minke 20 Cover Story - The Spike Pub & Liquor Store 12 Product Showcase ABLE BC Editor Kim Haakstad 22 Pub Cuisine - Food Cost Control 13 Human Resources

Thanks for pouring Copyright EMC Publications 26 Building Sales Without Suggestive Selling 18 Liquor Sales & Trends Brockton IPA. PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT NO. 40026059 27 Impaired Driving Legislation 25 What's New? RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES 28 Would You Call This Theft? Well hopped, refreshing and TO CIRCULATION DEPT EMC PUBLICATIONS 29 Liquor Policy & Business Review 19073 63 AVENUE 31 Tech Trends already a local favourite. SURREY BC V3S 8G7 30 Wine Report - Accessories email: [email protected] 34 Effective Employee Sales Contests 32 LDB Report - Liqueurs 36 Spotlight on Agave Spirits The statements, opinions & points of view expressed in published articles are not necessarily those of ABLE BC. 38 Names in the News Advertisers are not necessarily endorsed by ABLE BC. 38 BC Hospitality Foundation

The spring and early summer of 2010 were a tough time for many operators Is this just another nail in the coffin for the pub business? Maybe, but I think with poor weather and slow sales through until the end of June. While business we need to find a way to look at it as an opportunity. I know my pub’s viability has picked up for many pubs and liquor stores in July, it is not all good news. requires that I do that. Remember that Designated Driving Program you used While our businesses were quiet early Spring, the government was busy working to have in your establishment? We all used to have them, and some of you away on legislative changes that will impact our industry in many ways. Some still might, but most of us have stopped promoting it. You might still have the of these changes are already hurting our businesses, some will have a positive posters and or coasters collecting dust in your storage room. Well let’s dust impact, and some will change the way we do business and how government those off and breathe new life into that Designated Driver program! Remember holds us accountable on complying with the law. when a designated driver got free pop all night? Maybe it was a free appetizer, A new law, which is no doubt creating as much chatter in your establishments as or a Virgin Caesar. Treating designated drivers like VIPs because they are going it is in mine, changes the penalties for drinking and driving. More specific fact- to get their drinking friends home safely is certainly a viable and successful based information on these changes has been provided by the Superintendent solution to our dilemma. While the DD’s friends spend money in your business, of Motor Vehicles and can be found further into this edition of The Publican. without having to worry about how they will get home, the DD will remember Like or loathe these changes, one thing is for certain - despite the fact that the this treatment and is more likely to come back to your place when it is his or law doesn’t come into effect until sometime in the fall; people are changing her turn to have a few drinks while someone else drives. their behaviour now. As fewer people are willing to have just one drink and Cabs, transit, and arranging drop-offs and pick-ups can be expensive or just plain then drive, these changing behaviours have already caused a decline in sales impossible. Often having a designated driver is the only viable option, but we in a lot of pubs around BC, despite the fact that the new penalties are not yet all know it can be a difficult role to fill. Let’s face it, we no longer have to work in effect. So whether you want to see these new laws repealed or made even just to attract our drinking patrons, but maybe more so their designated drivers. stronger, we are all faced with the same daunting dilemma of making it work Let’s work together to make this role more enticing. Treat your designated driver for our businesses, which depend on liquor sales. customers like VIPs and remind your customers that the best way to avoid So, what can we do? drinking and driving is a little pre-planning and a willingness to enjoy a night of mocktails instead of cocktails every once in a while, in the name of safety.

4 The Publican Executive Director's Report by Kim Haakstad

Union Organizing Drives Ability to Sell Pre-Mixed Drinks The UFCW Union has been dropping (literally) Have you always wanted a Bellini machine pamphlets at liquor stores in the Metro Vancouver and couldn’t figure out why a certain chain of and Kootenay areas. The pamphlets promise restaurants had them but your liquor inspector higher wages if your staff join a union. For many told you that you couldn’t? Well, wonder no more. small businesses, it is not feasible to have a union. Changes to the Liquor Act now allow you to sell Be proactive, know what other employers pay pre-mixed drinks to patrons - so get those slushy for similar jobs in your area, and do what you machines up and running before the summer sun can to address staff inquiries and complaints as is gone for another year. they arise. Want more information? Check out three new Door Staff Licensing resources on ABLE’s new website: Talking To Your Staff About Unions, How To Avoid Organizing It has now been almost ten months since the Drives In Your Business, and What To Do When government started requiring door staff in There Is An Organizing Drive (available to licensed liquor establishments to be licensed. So members only). far there has been little enforcement, but if you currently use door staff and do not have them licensed, we recommend you do so as soon as Service to Minors and Intoxicated Patrons possible. Reminder - if you DO NOT currently use door staff, you do not need to start. Recently a number of pubs and LRSs have received fines or suspensions for serving If you do have your door staff licensed, we want intoxicated patrons. Make sure your staff are to hear from you. What were the costs, challenge, monitoring customers in your businesses. and benefits, if any? Have staff check consumption patterns of each patron when possible, and support your staff in cutting customers off or declining service when Renewal Time at ABLE necessary. Just a reminder that ABLE’s membership year is Also, make sure your staff always ask, “May I see September 1 to August 31. Watch for your renewal 2 pieces of ID?” Minors will be coming into your packages in the mail. establishments as secret shoppers, so make sure Not a member yet? Been thinking about joining your staff are prepared. Remind them that liquor ABLE for a while but haven’t done it? Non- inspectors now have the ability to not only issue members have probably noticed less and fines to the minors, but also to staff, and they less free information is available on ABLE’s will start issuing those tickets sometime this fall. website. Members tell us that one of the biggest For more information on how to improve your values of ABLE membership is timely access to due diligence, check out the templates in the quality information about our industry, so less Members Only area of ABLE’s website. Need more information is being given away for free. ABLE 2 pieces of ID Required posters? Call ABLE and has a new fee structure to reflect the LP- LRS they will be sent to you free of charge. separation - stand alone LPs or LRSs can now join ABLE for just $630! Check out ABLE’s website for more information on the benefits of ABLE Changes to Trade Practices membership at www.ablebc.ca. Join today and support your association! As you may know, the provincial government is working on changes to the laws relating to the relationship your LP or LRS can have with liquor suppliers. ABLE has received some questions about how this will work. While we don’t know the details yet, the Liquor Control and Licensing Visit the Branch has assured us that ABLE will be consulted BC Hospitality Industry in the development of the new rules governing Conference & Exposition these relationships. Please feel free to let your November 21- 23 regional ABLE director or the ABLE office know your opinions.

The Publican 5 LCLB Report by Karen Ayers

Liquor-Related Legislative Changes Government recently passed Bill 20, which included many liquor-related consume alcohol. This is to address the low compliance rate among some changes intended to enhance public safety, modernize our legislation, and licensees for checking ID, given that liquor service to minors is a public safety de-regulate aspects of the liquor hospitality industry. risk. Some of the changes took effect on June 3, 2010. Others will come into effect In addition, changes of interest to you that will require regulations before by regulation. coming into force include: The following changes that are already in effect may be of interest to you: • Provision to permit ownership links between liquor manufacturers and licensees beyond what is presently permitted to provide additional • Licensees may pre-mix drinks. This is meant to accommodate mixing investment and marketing opportunities for both groups. equipment like Bellini machines and preparing popular mixed drinks ahead of time. • Provision to modernize trade practice relationships between liquor manufacturers and licensees. The rules governing how liquor manufacturers • Gaming regulations have been consolidated within the Gaming Act, and can promote their products within licensed establishments will be relaxed. will be regulated by the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch. However, the LCLB will maintain restrictions on gaming where it is appropriate for the • Provisions for greater control over who may obtain a special occasion type of licence, e.g. social occasion casinos won’t be permitted in food licence and where the event may be held, and for holding special occasion primary establishments. licence holders accountable for infractions, i.e. subject to LCLB enforcement and penalties just like permanent licensees. • All licensees may sponsor community activities and events - previously only liquor manufacturers could sponsor events. • Provision to licence agency stores, e.g. rural agency, manufacturer, and private wine stores, and hold them to the same compliance and enforcement • LCLB may suspend or impose terms and conditions on a licence for up to 14 rules as other private liquor retail outlets. days, without a hearing, in extraordinary circumstances - intended only where there are significant public safety concerns. While we expect this LCLB will consult with stakeholders on the development of these regulations power will be used very infrequently, it will be a valuable tool for protecting and policies before they go forward. Many of these initiatives will not be public safety in those cases. implemented for a number of months to allow us time to consult. • LCLB and police may hire minors to help monitor compliance with ID A complete list of the changes to the Liquor Control and Licensing Act are on our checking rules. Minors would be under supervision and not allowed to website at www.hsd.gov.bc.ca/lclb.

LIQUOR SERVING SIZES from LCLB Policy Directive 10-04 The purpose of the maximum single serving size rules is to encourage moderate Draught beer: Draught beer may be served in single servings of no more than consumption at all times and avoid over-serving patrons. Concerns have been 24 oz (680ml) or smaller servings of multiple brands, provided the total served expressed that the previous serving size rules did not allow for serving a pint at one time is no more than 24 oz (680ml). (A Canadian pint is 20 oz or 568ml.) of draught beer and that the basis for the different serving sizes for different Pitchers or other multiple serving containers shared by two or more patrons categories of liquor was unclear. may contain no more than 1.5 litres of draught beer. A standard drink in Canada contains 13.6 grams of ethyl alcohol, which is Bottled beer: A maximum of two standard-sized or one large-sized (up to 24 oz approximately equivalent to one 12 oz (340ml) beer containing 5% alcohol, one or 680ml) bottle of beer may be served to a single patron at one time. 5 oz (142ml) glass of wine containing 12% alcohol, and 1.5 oz (42.6ml) of spirits Wine: Wine may be served in single servings of 10 oz (285ml) or in smaller containing 40% alcohol. These revised serving sizes better reflect the alcohol servings of multiple brands provided the total served at one time is no more content of different types of liquor by attempting to equalize the amount of than 10 oz (285ml). Wine may also be served by the standard 750ml bottle if alcohol that is contained in the different types of liquor. it is to be consumed by at least two people and with food. Wine may also be served in non-refillable containers up to 1.5 litres or in refillable containers up Revised Serving Size Policy to 1.5 litres (with approval for the container from the Public Health Protection Branch of the Ministry of Health), and subject to these serving size rules. The following are the maximum drink sizes, which can be served to patrons at one time: These are maximum serving sizes; licensees may continue to serve smaller servings, which fit their existing glassware. Distilled liquor: Drinks containing distilled liquor (spirits) must not contain more than three fluid ounces (85ml) of distilled liquor. Drinks that two or more patrons intend to share may be served in larger containers, but the maximum Further information regarding liquor control and licensing in BC is available on the Liquor Control and Licensing Branch of three fluid ounces per person must be maintained. Whole bottles of distilled website at www.hsd.gov.bc.ca/lclb. If you have any questions regarding these changes, please contact the Liquor Control liquor must not be served or sold. (There has been no change to the serving and Licensing Branch toll free in Canada at 1-866-209-2111 or 250-387-1254 if calling from the Victoria area. sizes for distilled liquor.) 6 The Publican BC HOSPITALITY ConferenceINDUSTRY & Expo2010

Conference Expo November 21–23 November 22 & 23 Fairmont Vancouver Convention Waterfront Hotel Centre—West

Registration Visit www.hospitality-trade.com for more information and to register for the conference & tradeshow.

HOSTS SPONSORS SIGNby Alex Van Tol OF THE TIMES

Maximizing impact and sales through great signage Lau, co-owner and creative principal of a graphic design studio in Vancouver. Sorry, but the photos have to go, insists Lau. They won’t translate well onto your A sign has a number of jobs to do. The most important is to be eye-catching. You signs. Nor, for that matter, will complex logos. If your pub or liquor store logo can’t sell your stuff unless you stand out from the competition. The next most is intricate, you might need to think about a redesign before you fork out for important job of a sign is to be informative. It should be easy to understand. signs that won’t get your message across clearly. “And try not to do more than And it’s a bonus if it’s nice to look at. just a few colours,” Lau advises. Two or three is ideal. Keep signs at eye level. “The biggest thing with signage is don’t clutter it with a lot of stuff,” notes Ted Illuminated signs are good, especially for food and drink establishments. You’re

8 The Publican open at night, right? That means you’ll want people to see your signage clearly, developing your brand? A good design firm can help with everything from both inside and out. But steer clear of those blue LED lights, because they’re branding to marketing to websites, and everything in between. really hard to see in the dark. Position interior and exterior signs in high-traffic areas. If it’s outside, ensure it’s At the Berezan Group, the whole management team came together to develop not hidden behind any trees or bushes. “The style of sign is also determined its signature backlit martini glass that graces every liquor store under the by its location and the municipality,” notes Iqbal Virani, owner of a sign shop Berezan umbrella. It’s sparkly, easy to see, and effectively branded with the “B” in Surrey. Pay close attention to your regulations and you won’t have to take surrounding the martini glass. “As we started to expand our stores,” explains down a sign that you’ve just paid a bundle for. Troy Bilodeau, director of retail operations for Berezan, “we decided to get Once you’ve got them through the door, the trick is to capture your customers’ something out there for consumers to be able to identify our stores and know attention and boost sales. No better way to do it than by showing them a they were in a Berezan liquor store.” tempting array of what’s to be had at your establishment. Large-screen digital Your takeaway? “Keep everything as branded as possible,” suggests Lau, whose signs are a great way to do this. “Digital signage is more dynamic than static company has done a lot of work with the Arbuthnot Group, at establishments images,” reveals Tony White, sales manager for Best Buy for Business. “It has a like Fox’s Reach and The Landing. Not sure where to start in changing or greater impression rate on consumers, especially if you add in constant changes

The Publican 9 to the sign. Those are eye-catching and people package to make an impact with your interior have a tendency to look at them for longer periods signs. Not sure that you want a constantly than static images.” Plus, digital signs can save you revolving screen of branded images? At Canoe the headache of juggling (and re-taping, patching, Brewpub Marina and Restaurant in Victoria, and changing) paper signs, posters, and banners. General Manager Alain Leger and his team bought Going digital might even save you money down several TVs to complement their existing roster of the line on printing costs. banners and window signs. Canoe runs movies during their themed nights, such as surf Sundays Digital signs take the form of a TV or large-screen and James Bond night. computer monitor with a media player or software. The content can be updated and controlled from In the market for tent cards? Take a good look any location. Once you buy a digital display, you at how the interior of your pub is styled. “If the can go to your provider’s website and upload atmosphere is dark, they have to be easy to content, whether it’s video or still images. “As read,” says Lau. List your features, but add a call long as [publicans] have somewhere with Internet to action to entice your customers to try your access, they can change anything from anywhere specials. Sometimes a catchy title is enough to in the world,” explains Mike Maclean, whose do this. Keep your branding clear and simple, and company manufactures software for use with keep the design in line with your brand. If your digital signs. “It’s the iPod of digital signs. It’s cost establishment’s chief colours are green and gold, effective, durable, and scalable.” these should be reflected in your tent cards and clients away from using their in-house digital other signage. Your pub’s name should be visible These signs let you share specials with your signage to advertise outside services like the on the card. Resist the temptation to give it over to customers, tempt them with mouth-watering pizza joint down the road. “It won’t drive as much a supplier: sure, they’ll pay the cost of having the images, and upsell new or recommended items. revenue for you as if you advertise your own cards printed, but you’re not doing yourself any You can do as much or as little self-promotion as products and services, or those of your partners,” favours, because it’s their branding that’s getting you like - and it’s a perfect opportunity for cross- White observes. the most airtime. You’re advertising for them, not promotion between establishments. You can run Others feel differently. As the Berezan Group rolls for your establishment. a display in your liquor store about the specials in out digital signs at all of its liquor stores in the your pub, or vice versa. Keep your own brand front and centre on coming months, they are looking at advertising functional, informative, and attractive signs. Tell “The nice thing about it is being able to promote for other businesses as a potential source of the people what’s new, what’s hot, and what’s your own specials,” comments White. “There’s revenue. on special. Make an impact, and you’ll make great margin in those items.” White steers his You don’t even have to sign up for a digital more sales.

10 The Publican Digital Signage by Best Buy

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BBYHospitality Handout-Digital Signage_resize.indd 1 C6/9/10 11:47:15 AM Project Manager: Joanna Project: BBY Hospitality Handout_june PROOFED AT: M THEIP PROOF PROOF CTV: Steve Production: nancy Dates: N/A Y Docket #: 000710 Bleed: 8.375” x 11” / Trim: 8.125" x 10.75" K © Best Buy 2008

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12 The Publican Human Resources by go2

Getting New Hire Orientation Right Since young workers constitute a significant part of review. “Along with reviewing the house rules and any the labour pool in the bar and pub business, where training materials, I include a Serving It Right review,” there's a high degree of staff turnover, a strong and notes Gaudaur. “We are in the business of creating detailed orientation program is key to assimilating good times for our guests, but many people don’t new employees. Following is orientation advice from know their limits with alcohol, so we must be the three managers at licensed establishments of various monitors. It is our responsibility to ensure patrons sizes: Foggy Dew, Doolin’s Irish Pub, and the Dockside are not over-served alcoholic beverages, and the new Lounge. server must be aware of the signs of intoxication.”

Comprehensive Orientation is Crucial Accommodating Shifts while Supervising Orientation These managers require that printed manuals, which outline roles and responsibilities, be given to To accommodate day and evening shifts, experienced all new employees. The manual should also cover employees can be assigned as trainers for new hires. company policies and procedures that new employees “A trainer is somebody who I feel has a lot of buy-in to need to know about - from gratuity sharing to the company, won’t take shortcuts, and will teach the HITACHINO NEST safety procedures and everything in between. They proper way,” describes Eugene Vassilev, assistant food White Ale recommend reading the manuals aloud to new hires and beverage director at the Granville Island Hotel, Japan so that expectations don't fall into grey areas, and which encompasses the Dockside Brewing Restaurant This is a refreshing, mildly employees cannot deny being informed of policies. A Bar and the Dockside Lounge. “The trainer will always hopped Belgian styled question-and-answer session at this point will help to be a senior department employee who exemplifies beer with a complex ensure that employees understand what is expected the business model through their performance, flavour of coriander, of them. Ensure that the employees sign the policies knowledge, and leadership skills,” reveals Gaudaur. orange peel, and nutmeg. and procedures as well. “Integrating the trainer at this point is a gentle handoff White Ale has won gold from the manager. I ensure the new employee has the “The orientation is a multi-layered, ongoing process medals at several beer same trainer for at least the first week. I explain how from the point of hiring,” says Paul Gaudaur, general competitions in the UK I will measure the employee’s progress through daily and North America. manager of Coquitlam’s Foggy Dew, part of Gibson performance reviews and set daily goals.” Hospitality Inc. “It benefits the employee, the company, Hitachino is one of the top and the guest. Moulding new employees into the For the first few shifts, Vassilev encourages craft breweries in Japan company model through communication, hands- implementation of a training schedule, a list of tasks to and White Ale is one of its on training, and development ensures a confident, be accomplished, goals to be reached, and questions top-selling beers. knowledgeable employee. The goal is to maintain to be answered for both trainee and trainer. He breaks your workforce through exemplary communication the initial shift into two hours with that shift’s hostess, abv 5% and training." two hours with the bus staff, and two hours at the kitchen line. He considers the latter most important. Jay Mangan, general manager at Doolin’s Irish Pub in “It forces the server to learn the table numbers and Vancouver, emphasizes a positive team attitude. “If you the seat numbers, while at the same time interacting have a happy team, it’s a lot easier to get new hires to with the kitchen, learning how to speak to them, and buy into the ideals or initiatives that you’re trying to knowing who to approach with specific problems.” put forward,” he explains. Mangan personally leads a new hire on a tour of the premises, displaying the In pub venues, managers also assign time with the 330ml bottle $2.99 confidence and enthusiasm that he wants to see on bartender, helping new servers learn the procedure SKU 230672 the job. He also handles the introductions to all staff on of taking orders and making drinks. duty. “We spend time in the kitchen area, so that even "All front-line employees are the faces of your 720ml bottle $6.49 if they never go back there again, they have respect for business," concludes Gaudaur. "If you have successfully SKU 784579 what our kitchen staff go through every day.” oriented and trained the employee, the end result is an informed, satisfied guest combined with a positive 1-866-454-4025 revenue source in the employee." www.beerthirst.com Reviewing the Serving It Right Program

During orientation, and then periodically after that, Les Wiseman is writing for go2. For more information for using human resources all front-of-house staff should have a Serving It Right to improve your business' bottom line, visit www.go2hr.ca.

The Publican 13 VALUE YOUR ACCESSORIES and boost bottle sales by Chris McBeath

14 The Publican Publican When retail guru Robert Spector shared the secrets of Nordstrom’s success, and made a chunk of change in doing so, the face of retailing was changed forever. Consumers were “in” on the arts of persuasion, and the study of how people shopped became a sophisticated science. Add the Internet, and the contest has evolved to a whole new, fast-moving ball game against which bricks-and-mortar stores must now compete. That includes catering to a customer who is, as various studies reveal, more demanding and increasingly attention deficit. Look no further than the so- called Generation Y whose surfing childhood has taught them to think in bytes, literally and figuratively. They’re looking for fast and easy engagement, originality, and value-added ideas. Therein lays the opportunity. demand, or sheer novelty appeal, offering non- Consider the Trends alcoholic wares is a way to keep the store an Engaging Customers exciting place to shop. “They can be a point of Peter Fisk, business innovator, marketer, and best selling author, is an authority on prevailing trends “Although accessories are a small part of our differentiation and help build customer loyalty.” in commerce. When applied to the liquor industry, overall revenues, they offer an excellent mark- Murray Rasmusson, a 15-year veteran of they pave the way for a fresh look at sundry, non- up, often as much as 100%”, says Stacey Mueller, distributing various alcohol-related supplies alcoholic accessories. Manager of the recently opened Berezan Liquor agrees. “Displays of bottle openers, gift bags and Store in Langley. “More importantly, they add to inexpensive glassware are geared to the impulse Some of the trends, such as Challenger Brands (as the buying experience and engage our customers buy and they need to move fast,” he suggests. in, serious private labels), and Designer Quality, in a way that results in more sales of our primary “These are POP staples to any inventory - the are already familiar commodities whether in merchandise.” nearer the cash register, the better. However, limited edition wines and sought-after vintages, or established, high-end spirits. Take a look at the Mueller, who has an extensive background in it’s important to make sure that value doesn’t trends, Simplifying Life (anything that makes life retailing, admits that sometimes the selection translate to cheap; a wine opener must have the better), and Streamlining (everything fast and process can be bit of a hit and miss affair - “we’re strength to pull out a cork, and the durability to convenient), and you open the doors to more not an exclusive wine store with clearly defined last beyond one picnic.” Clutter around the cash inspired service that goes beyond nachos and clientele” - but since displays can be changed register is the bane of most operations. But it cheese dip beside cases of beer. Today, these quickly in response to the season, customer need not be so. concepts talk to pick-up dinner items, such as

The Publican 15 flavourful crackers with hand-crafted cheeses - the more local the better, summer coolers alongside stylish plastic glasses for the beach, and ready-made gift baskets, which are Ideas for Companion Sales easy to theme and prepare in advance. “Good merchandising is all about helping your • Accessorize slow movers and place a hot spot in your store customers think,” notes Fisk. (but only for a limited time) Although your average liquor store can’t compete with the box-warehouse space • Work with local producers to establish a “buy local” of Everything Wine in North Vancouver (the 12,000 square foot shop carries almost destination shelf, nook, or alcove 3,000 different wines), you can adapt and adopt some of their savvy when it comes • Set aside an eco-conscious area to accessories. Proportionately speaking, the accessory area is small, but it’s packed • Position books, DVDs and accessories throughout the store with nick-nacks that invite tactile browsing. There’s a good range of Riedel glassware, • Show examples of how products can be packaged for gift books, and publications including Wine Enthusiast, Decanter and Wine Spectator (there’s ideas even a bin that sells past issues at 50% off); whimsical pieces such as ornamental glass • Handmade liqueur chocolates and organic wine chocolates decorations, coasters, and wine-related trivia playing cards as well as well-priced platters are big impulse sellers and dip dishes to go with jars of gourmet antipasto and spreads. Various bags, already • Host tastings that pair beer and wine with chocolate stuffed with colourful tissue, need only a bottle added, and are artfully arranged to inspire • Include one-of-a-kind items in a specialty section, such as a gift-giving mentality. There’s also an eco-friendly section featuring those wineries that hand-painted wine glasses follow sustainable, organic, or bio-dynamic practices. This is an important consideration • Offer specially priced gift sets when almost half of consumers say environmentally friendly products are the primary • Securely fasten some of your accessory ideas on the wall in factor in their purchase decisions. Regular tasting events are part of the store’s modus your bathroom operandi, which not only attracts new customers, but is creating a local wine community of enthusiastic store ambassadors.

16 The Publican Cultivate the Purchase Experience Effective retailing is as much about placement and environment as it is the stock, so when Alcool NB Liquor in New Brunswick embraced two key design trends: Concept Space and Engaging Niches, it was banking on success. Responsible for a network of 48 stores and 70 licensed agency partners, the organization is revamping the Alcool NB Liquor purchasing experience. First, it is emphasizing a culture of staff product knowledge and service, and second, remodeled stores now include interior destinations using bottle displays, mood pictures, and themed accessories. Kudos to date include earning top honours last June from the Retail Council of Canada for Retail Innovation Service Excellence (RISE), in a category that included Holt Renfrew, Shoppers Drug Mart, and Home Depot. For Mueller, retailing is all about crafting a relationship with her customers. “Selling accessory items helps to provide a value experience,” she explains. “For example, it costs me cents to throw in a bag of ice with every cooler purchased, yet it brands us with a style of customer service that keeps us in the forefront of purchase decisions.”

Retailing Trends into 2011

Concept Spaces – retail beyond selling. Create dynamic environments. Engaging Niches - don’t be average. Encourage shoppers to stay. Simplifying Life - make life better. Help make customers feel good and the planet healthier. Challenger Brands - serious private labels. Look for exclusive and out-of-the-ordinary sources. Digital Hybrids - fusing physical and virtual. Incorporate both online and in-store. Cool Downtraders - cheaper is better. Glitz is out; ethic/eco-aware is in. Designer Quality - luxury that lasts. Carry some signature brands. Streamlining - fast and convenient. Package and place products for easy decisions. Network Loyalty - loyal to each other. Loyal to websites. Support community causes and carry local product.

Source: Peter Fisk, Genius Works

Catch the Digital Wave As the fastest growing media segment in North America, point-of-decision digital media is the wave of the future. You just need to look across the border and the results speak for themselves. Already ensconced in large-scale vendors such as Target, Kroger, Costco, and Best Buy, research by Mintel shows consumers will visit stores with in-store digital display networks twice as often, spend 10% more money, and double the number of impulse purchases. Meanwhile, Arbitron, a media-measurement firm, reports that US consumers are more likely to recall in-store video advertising than other media and were subsequently 40% more likely to purchase. And just in case there are any doubts, you need look no further than Walmart. It is constructing a worldwide advertising network to operate in all its stores, which, when fully implemented, will be the fifth biggest TV network in the US, reaching 180 million viewers a month. Our recommendation is: catch the digital wave, tap into the accessory market in support of your primary focus, and realize that showmanship is part of today’s selling success.

The Publican 17 LIQUOR SALES AND TRENDS

YTD ending May 30, 2010

Beer Spirits Gross Sales % Change Marketshare Gross Sales % Change Marketshare BC Liquor Stores $ 56,024,924 -7.1% 29.9% BC Liquor Stores $53,469,123 -4.7% 45.7% LRS $ 83,443,681 -9.6% 44.5% LRS $39,880,578 21.4% 34.1% Licensee $ 36,912,676 -7.8% 19.7% Licensee $16,046,272 -7.1% 13.7% Other Sources not Reported $ 11,108,893 5.9% Other Sources not Reported $ 7,558,024 6.5% Product Total from All Sources $187,490,174 Product Total from All Sources $116,953,997

Wine Refreshment Beverage Gross Sales % Change Marketshare Gross Sales % Change Marketshare BC Liquor Stores $63,424,130 0.5% 50.1% BC Liquor Stores $ 6,498,259 -7.6% 31.6% LRS $26,375,353 -1.9% 20.8% LRS $10,779,858 -4.2% 52.4% Licensee $20,970,045 -3.5% 16.6% Licensee $ 2,000,391 -13.5% 9.7% Other Sources not Reported $15,850,724 12.5% Other Sources not Reported $ 1,276,151 6.3% Product Total from All Sources $126,620,252 Product Total from All Sources $20,554,659

Note: (1) Measured in Gross Retail Sales Dollars. (2) Report includes all liquor sales from BC market. Source: BC Liquor Distribution Branch

18 The Publican PERIOD 02 SALES – UNAUDITED Sales for period 02 [May] were $216.2 million which is $12.9 million (5.6%) below budget and $7.6 million (3.4 %) lower than last year. Year to date sales were $446.1 million, $21.2 million below budget and $14.6 million (3.2%) lower than last year.

COUNTER AND LICENSEE SALES ($ Millions) SALES BY CATEGORY ($ Millions)

CURRENT PERIOD 2010/11 2009/10 Change CURRENT PERIOD 2010/11 2009/10 Change Counter Sales Spirits 50.3 53.1 -5.4% BC Liquor Stores (GLS) 85.6 88.4 -3.1% Wine 60.1 59.8 0.5% Licensee Retail Store (LRS) 76.3 80.0 -4.3% Beer 94.4 99.0 -4.6% Rural Agency Stores (RAS) 9.2 9.6 -4.2% Cider/Coolers/Others 10.8 11.2 -4.0% Licensee Sales 36.5 37.5 -2.6% YEAR-TO-DATE 2010/11 2009/10 Change YEAR-TO-DATE 2010/11 2009/10 Change Spirits 113.8 110.9 2.6% Counter Sales Wine 124.0 124.8 -0.6% BC Liquor Stores (GLS) 176.6 184.4 -4.2% Beer 186.6 202.0 -7.6% Licensee Retail Store (LRS) 161.5 161.8 -0.2% Cider/Coolers/Others 20.2 21.8 -7.0% Rural Agency Stores (RAS) 17.2 18.8 -8.3% Licensee Sales 75.7 80.7 -6.3%

The Publican 19 The Spike Pub & Liquor Store by Jonathan Niven

An Award-Winning Part of the Berezan Hospitality Group Cheryl’s community spirit also extends to supporting the community through various fundraising efforts, including raising over $150,000 for Canuck Place It’s well known that achieving success in the pub industry is not an easy in just three years. The pub hosted a large community beach volleyball endeavour. Long hours, stiff competition, ever-changing regulations, and fickle tournament for ten years with proceeds to the local hospital. Every year, customers contribute to the daily stresses that all pub owners and managers truckloads of sand were dumped in their parking lot for the volleyball courts, face. So having a strong business partner can be a huge asset. until a condo development adjacent to the property forced them to cancel the Cheryl Semenuik has been in the hospitality industry for about 30 years, starting tournament. The Spike continues to support about 50 different sports teams as a hostess, then becoming a server and bartender. After a brief stint with a and groups on an ongoing basis. law firm, Cheryl realized she wanted to buy her own pub and make it her career. This commitment to the community has not gone unrecognized. Numerous She also realized that her best chance for success was to find a partner with awards including Overall Favourite Business 2004, Spirit of Business Award 2006, a solid track record, who could also provide financial support. She contacted and Community Spirit Award 2007 represent just some of the recognition the Gord McCormick and asked him to find her a pub and partnership opportunity pub and Cheryl has received through the years. that would be a good fit. Through Gord, she and her life partner, Jeff Palidor, met Ralph Berezan and went into business together in 2001 at the Spike Pub Along with the support of Canuck Place came a close association with the in Port Moody, however, Jeff retired from the Spike in 2008. Named after the team, and Cheryl began to build a culture and atmosphere around the Canucks. last spike driven in Canada’s national railway, the Spike is a 250-seat pub and The pub became known as “the place” to be for a hockey game, and their liquor store located on busy St. John’s Street. association with the team allowed them to acquire numerous pieces of Canuck memorabilia, which were in turn auctioned off for Canuck Place. Cheryl quickly realized there was much more to operating a pub than serving customers, but her experience as a server gave her a solid understanding of Cheryl is quick to point out that although she is there everyday, her partner, the floor operations and a healthy empathy for her staff and patrons alike. As The Berezan Hospitality Group, provides huge support in many aspects of the Cheryl’s confidence grew, she knew she had to become involved in the local operation. Currently Berezan Hospitality owns 4 pubs, 10 liquor stores, Agave community in order to grow the business and survive in what is essentially Restaurant, Chateau Cargill, and the Hemlock Valley Ski Resort. With that many a small town with a large urban environment. She got involved in the local properties, the group has significant buyer power. As an example, all liquor business association and served as its president for four years. Her philosophy purchases for the liquor store go through head office, freeing up the liquor store is to do as much business locally as possible, including hiring local trades, manager to concentrate on staffing, promotions, and floor issues. While each sourcing local suppliers, and hiring local bands. While that may be the only property has autonomy to stock locally popular items, group purchasing just option in isolated communities, it’s not the case in the Lower Mainland: it make sense and it allows all the properties to take advantage of volume buying, simply makes good business sense. special promotions, and a coordinated approach to product and merchandising. 20 The Publican " Superior food service in pubs is just one of the many ways to continue to attract and retain customers."

The Spike Pub is currently undergoing some major renovations beginning with the washrooms (chandeliers in the Ladies’ Room), new carpets, and other upgrades. Not to be outdone, the men get soccer “aim games” in the urinals, reducing the accumulation of chewing gum and other unwanted debris, and greatly improving aim! According to Cheryl, the recent move to detach liquor stores from pubs has provided opportunities for the liquor stores and challenges for the pubs. Increasingly pubs have to support themselves despite escalating competition from restaurants acting like pubs. Superior food service in pubs is just one of the many ways to continue to attract and retain customers. At the Spike, Cheryl and her team are working hard to keep their customers engaged and coming back with promotions and event nights such as “Rock Band Mondays”, “Music Trivia Tuesdays”, and live entertainment on the weekends. And of course, all the goings-on can be found on Facebook. Meanwhile, the liquor store continues to provide some of the best opportunities for growth with specialty products and diverse retail offerings. Cheryl foresees bigger and better private liquor stores entering the market with specialty products and a focus on hard-to-find products that the government stores are not carrying. The Spike is proof that partnerships in the pub industry can not only work, they can become very successful. Berezan Hospitality has had the ability to find competent, dedicated working partners, and as a result, their business model continues to grow and flourish.

The Publican 21 PUB CUISINE New Challenges to Food Cost Control by Dave Swanston

22 The Publican Publican Controlling food cost has never been so important nor so difficult for pub Update Menu Costing operators. In the changing competitive landscape, the future success of pubs depends on their ability to capitalize on the opportunities available from new Every food product and processing activity has a certain amount of inherent operating models. One key opportunity rests in the increased prominence of natural variation that cannot be controlled. Not every head of romaine is exactly food programs. the same, for example, and not every roast shrinks the same amount when cooked. As more fresh ingredients are utilized and the number of preparation The pub industry has been hit hard recently. After overcoming challenges steps increase, the greater the impact of this variation will have on food costs. presented by legislation related to smoking and alcohol service, the last couple Management must include an allowance for this variation when they determine of years have brought a second wave of trials that jeopardized this industry's costs for each menu item. Not doing so will result in ideal cost targets being survival. The economic downturn reduced the disposable income of consumers set that could never be met, and prices being set that do not provide adequate and decreased their spending in food service operations. Increased wage margins. demands and higher input prices have reduced operators' margins. Now, as BC adopts the HST, patrons will pay tax on items that were previously exempt, which will likely reduce spending further. Multiple Vendor Sourcing In order to thrive, not just survive, operators must rely less on alcohol sales and Unless contract prices are established, fresh and locally sourced ingredients begin diversifying their service offerings. Food can no longer be an afterthought. are prone to more frequent price changes. To protect themselves, operators A greater focus on food programs will increase revenues, build traffic flows, should ensure that they have a minimum of two suppliers for every product and improve profitability. Unlike alcohol, food menus provide operators with they use. Not only will this promote price competition between vendors, it the ability to differentiate themselves from the competition and can become will also reduce the chance that the pub will get caught shorthanded, should a more stable source of long-term growth. a vendor have problems with its supply. Benefiting from these opportunities, however, requires a different approach to menu planning and cost control. Recipes will become increasingly complex, Improve Receiving Practices menus will need to be updated more often, and there will need to be a greater emphasis on fresh, made-from-scratch dishes. In light of these changes, Many management hours are spent trying to correct supply problems such managers should consider the following practical suggestions to ensure that as short shipments, product substitutions, and inferior quality product, which food costs are maintained and their financial targets are achieved: could have been caught at the door. With clear specifications established, staff entrusted with receiving product should inspect all items to ensure that they meet the pub's requirements. Often this involves little more than checking Standardize Recipes items off of the delivery invoice. Detailed recipes and product specifications will need to be created and adhered A scale should be located near the receiving area so that staff can verify the to. These standards will guide employee food production, guarantee that guests weight of arriving products. It should be used for items purchased by weight, receive a consistent product, and ensure that item costs can be maintained. such as beef as well as for checking the weight of a case of tomatoes or potatoes. Batch recipe and yield costs must also be developed as the number of items All produce should be inspected for quality as well as size specifications. made on site increases. Occasionally, cases should be opened from the bottom to verify that the

The Publican 23 product at the bottom is as good as the items on Control Employee Consumption top. Delivery drivers should be required to correct any deficiencies before they leave, reducing the Providing management and staff with time managers must spend addressing these complementary food and beverages while they problems. Improved receiving will result in less are working is a common practice. Most operators waste and consistent product yields. have little or no idea how much employee consumption costs them. If a pub has an average of eight employees working each day, and each Pre-Portioning employee consumes an average of $3 worth of food and beverage, at cost, the annual cost to the Mistakes and shortcuts are more likely during busy pub of this benefit would be just short of $9,000! meal periods when staff are rushing to produce and serve dishes. Cooks often deviate from recipes This amount is even more shocking when you and over portion ingredients in haste, resulting in consider the amount of product employees take higher product usage and costs. Pre-portioning but don't consume, eventually ending up in the ingredients in advance of meal periods allows garbage or poured down the drain. Setting limits employees to accurately follow specifications in on what items employees can consume, charging a controlled environment. Ramekins of sauces, staff discounted prices to cover product cost, and portion cups of shredded cheese, and preset plate prohibiting snacking while on duty are simple garnishes are simple examples of items that can be ways of reducing excess employee consumption portioned ahead of peak meal periods. and hence reducing costs.

Involve Staff “Cooks often deviate from Following many of these suggestions will be recipes and over portion difficult without the support of the entire culinary team. Providing opportunities for staff ingredients in haste…” to become involved with the development and implementation of these new programs will enhance their understanding of food cost Reduce Waste issues. Allowing employees to take ownership of these initiatives will increase their buy-in and Begin tracking waste by having all employees adherence to the programs, resulting in stronger record any product that must be discarded, and performance and cost efficiency. that the pub receives no revenue for. Analyze the Providing an enhanced food program is becoming waste tracking sheets daily and calculate the value a necessity for the future viability of pubs, but will of product wasted. This will provide managers require operators to be more rigorous with their with information about the common causes of cost control activities. The benefits, however, of waste and the extent to which waste is inflating these control efforts will be an improved bottom food cost. Strategies can then be implemented to line, higher quality, and more consistency in their address the source of the problems and reduce operations. product waste. Some common strategies to reduce waste include finding legitimate uses for previously discarded David Swanston is a Hospitality and Foodservice Consultant, Principal items, such as making croutons from day-old of Focused Industry Training Seminars and is an instructor at major bread, dicing tomato ends to make bruschetta, Canadian university business schools. Since 1997 he has helped a wide and using vegetable and meat trimmings for soup variety of organizations develop and launch new concepts, turn around stock. Maintaining proper equipment repair and troubled operations, and improve sales, profits, controls, and efficiency. calibration will improve quality and also reduce To learn more about how he can help you improve your sales, profits, unnecessary waste. and performance, contact him directly at 905.331.6115 or contactfit@ fitseminars.ca.

Next Issue the Publican Winter2010 • Utilizing Social Media The winter issue is also • Credit Card Fraud & Counterfeit Cash distributed to buyers at the BC Hospitality Industry • Product Diversity & Organization Conference & Exposition. • Training Cooks Call 1-800-667-0955 to book your ad by October 1.

24 The Publican What's New? by Debbie Minke

RTDs Canella Blood Orange Mimosa is a wine cocktail made from grape wine paired with the juice and pulp of crimson-fleshed Sicilian blood oranges. It’s light, fruity, and flavourful. 750ml $16.99 Wine Greg Norman Sparkling Chardonnay Pinot Noir offers lifted strawberry, citrus, and nutty aromas with a hint of sherbet character. The palate is medium to full bodied with generous Beer stone and citrus fruit. 750ml $16.00 Spec Nelson Brewing Company is celebrating its 20th anniversary with a very 2008 Kato Sauvignon Blanc boasts vibrant aromas of melon, special ale, just released this August. Cascadian Organic Pale Ale is dripping passion fruit, and citrus enhanced by notes of dried herbs. with fresh Cascade hops; an ale that reflects NBC’s organic way of life, loving, The palate combines elegant fruit flavours with a flintiness and living in Nelson. 6 x 341ml bottles $11.99 Limited quantity and minerality representative of the wine’s terroir in the Marlborough region of New Zealand. 750ml $19.99 Spec Santa Ana Chardonnay-Viognier 2008 hails from Mendoza, Argentina. It’s crisp, full-flavoured, and complex with ripe, Spirits peachy fruit plus lemon freshness and spicy oak notes. 750ml $13.99 Spec X Four (Times Four) is a handcrafted premium corn and rye-based vodka Juno Sauvignon Blanc 2009 is a pale straw colour with a made in BC. Distilled four times, X Four is additive free and boasts a crystal hint of green - a crisp South African wine with mineral and clear flavour, with hints of fruit and vanilla. 750ml $39.95 lime tones with a long finish. The Shiraz is also available. Both Khortytsa Platinum Vodka from Ukraine appeals to consumers who like a wines sport eye-catching labels displaying original paintings traditional European taste. The distinct flavour is created with the finest grains of “Cape Maidens” by Tertia du Toit. 750ml $12.99 Spec and pure water, using a patented conditioning process and a unique system of 2009 Clearview Estate Black Reef Blush is a complex off-dry purification and filtration through naturally formed crystals. Khortytsa Classic styled rosé from New Zealand. Enjoy delicate hints of berry and Khortytsa Pepper Honey Hot are also available. 1L $32.00, 750ml $28.00 fruits, fresh cherries, and spicy watermelon as well as the long, refreshing finish. 750ml $24.99 Spec TUACA liqueur from Italy is adventurously bold Windmill Estates Zinfandel originates from the Michael and surprisingly smooth with a predominant David Winery in California. 76% Zinfandel and 24% Petite taste of vanilla, accompanied by notes of Sirah, its aromas of sweet black cherries and juicy licorice Mediterranean citrus. TUACA is consumed tantalize the nose. Full flavours fill the mouth with cocoa, primarily as an icy cold shot, but it’s also great raspberry jam, and roasted coffee bean. 750ml $19.99 Spec in mixed drinks. 750ml $29.99 Lammershoek Aprilskloff Red Red 2005 is a South African

Tuaca was launched at the Tuaca Body Art Ball Cape blend with a twist. Soft and smooth with juicy red fruit, it’s aged in French and American oak barrels for 12 months, then bottled unfiltered, without fining. 750ml $15.99 Spec Eco Balance Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Chile’s Emiliana Orgánico winery. All grapes are farmed sustainably, with no pesticides or herbicides; the wine is packaged New Products with eco-glass, labeled with ecological paper and shipped in boxes of recycled material. Besides that, it’s a pleasant, The WinesceptreTM is a unique wine cooling system that widely-appealing wine with plum, licorice, and cherry scents maintains a pre-chilled bottle of wine at a temperature on the nose, medium body with fresh red fruit flavours, recommended by sommeliers when it is brought to the spice, and soft tannins. Carmenere and Chardonnay are also table. The stainless steel tube is inserted into the cooled available. All 750ml $11.99 Spec wine; its decorative top swings open for easy pouring. For more information, go to www.winesceptre.com.

The Publican 25 BUILDING SALES WITHOUT SUGGESTIVE SELLING by Jim Sullivan

There's much more to sales-building than merely training customer-facing team readily available during busy shifts to cheerfully correct input orders, and you members to suggestively sell. For instance, spotlessly-clean facilities and great may find your sales jump as a result. service are but two examples that come to mind, because that makes more Remove internal obstacles to selling. What do your team members cite customers return; and that builds your check averages exponentially. Let's as reasons (whether real or perceived) that they don't sell more? Common consider ways to generate more revenue that don't involve face-to-face selling. complaints we hear are: kitchen issues, low supplies, cook or bartender Don't pay people who make your job harder. Seek out, select, hire, and retain attitudes, too busy, under-staffed, overlooked prep work, throughput team members who are natural service-givers. Give those without this trait a bottlenecks, etc. Now address and resolve each of those system issues. job at the competition. Hire smart and you sell more because customers come Educate the team on the real cost of mistaken orders. Server and kitchen crew back more often. routinely believe that the price of an incorrect order is merely the wholesale Better POS training. One reason that servers don't sell more is because they cost of the product ("Yes, I accidentally fired a chicken breast instead of a burger, are not totally comfortable with the point-of-sale hardware or software they but what does that chicken cost us, a buck?"). No, it cost us the $8.95 menu use to input the orders. This uneasiness may not be problematic when it's slow, price that we didn't get for it because we threw it away. but when it's busy, servers can get flustered, and this means they may make Connect to the community, crew, and customers. Connecting with both mistakes during order entry that costs them time and builds anxiety. (Hurry is internal and external customers is a prerequisite for building more traffic and the mother of mistake.) Many servers will minimize this potential problem by sales. Customers don't come out to your pub just to get something to eat or taking orders instead of making sales, therefore having fewer items to enter. drink. They could do that at home. Creating an emotional connection between Test your servers periodically on their POS prowess, make sure managers are

26 The Publican your operation and the community, and teaching Reduce employee turnover. Employee retention You sell more in a clean pub. Keep the tabletops your servers to individually connect with each (of the right employees) is often overlooked as a bussed throughout a guest's dining experience. guest, is the key to building both short-term and key factor in profitably-run foodservice operations. Research shows that you can sell more to a long-term relationships. Service is our invisible Retaining great team members benefits you clean table. product. three ways: 1) a seasoned, well-trained service Don't get me wrong, I still think that training staff usually creates a more consistent positive Staff appropriately for volume. Proper staffing of servers and cashiers to suggest their best is a experience for your customers, which makes your customer-facing crew is critical to generate smart strategy for building sales, but your first them want to return, 2) customers like to see the more revenue. If you try to save labour dollars objective is to make certain you're executing same faces in your operations, and 3) same store by under-staffing, your servers will be running these steps too. By doing so you'll create an sales rise because well-trained tenured servers around trying to stay ahead of the pace instead environment where your entire team can better reflexively know how to suggestively sell. When of having time to connect with customers and serve and better sell. good servers leave you, you suffer the loss of not merchandise the menu. only a high-performer, but of time and resource Focus on the right outcome. The ultimate goal allocation as well. When a good server leaves all Copyright 2010 Sullivision.com for profitable operators is to get customers to of your training goes with them. come back more often, not to get them to spend Jim Sullivan is a popular speaker at foodservice and retail industry Remember to charge for everything you sell. as much as possible during the visit. Having a conferences worldwide. Sullivision.com creates service, sales, training, You can't take it to the bank if it's not first in the group come back twice a month versus once a marketing, leadership and e-learning resources for the foodservice and till. Don't let "busy-ness" affect your business if month doubles your sales too, doesn't it? Sell, retail industries worldwide. See the free podcasts, articles, templates forgetful (or dishonest) crews overlook ringing up don't oversell. If you only had one hen, would it and product catalog at www.sullivision.com. transactions. Trust your servers and cashiers, but be smarter to get an egg a day, every day, or have occasionally audit their transactions and banks to one hearty meal of omelettes? discourage improper behaviour.

BC's New Impaired Driving Legislation by Steve Martin

Liquor licensees and their staff help ensure road safety - whether they’re serving Drivers who blow above 0.08% BAC or refuse to provide a breath sample at the patrons responsibly or simply offering to call a cab when they ask for the bill. roadside will face an immediate 90-day driving ban, a $500 fine, and vehicle impoundment for 30 days. They may also face criminal charges. This fall, drivers will have more reasons to plan a safe ride home: Canada’s most immediate, severe penalties will come into effect. The penalties will apply to In addition, drivers who blow once above 0.08% or three times within five years all alcohol-impaired drivers – not just those with blood-alcohol content (BAC) between 0.05 and 0.08%, will be required to participate in the rehabilitative above 0.08%. In fact, a driver with a BAC between 0.05 and 0.08% is seven times Responsible Driver Program. They must also use an ignition interlock device, more likely to be in a fatal crash than one who’s completely sober. which tests a driver’s breath for alcohol every time they operate their vehicle, for one year. Drivers who blow between 0.05 and 0.08% once in a five-year period will face an immediate, three-day driving ban and a $200 fine; a second time, a seven-day These tough measures will help keep your patrons - and everyone else - safe ban and a $300 fine; and a third, a 30-day ban and a $400 fine. on BC’s roads. Steve Martin is BC Superintendent of Motor Vehicles.

The Publican 27 WOULD YOU CALL THIS THEFT? by Ian Foster and Peter Nelson An industry that loses 20% of sales to “shrinkage” needs to confront theft problems head-on instead of avoiding the subject altogether.

Theft is pretty clear. It is taking someone else’s property without permission. Theft Prevention Checklist In the hospitality industry, however, the definition of theft seems to depend on who is doing the defining! Is it theft to over-pour in order to get a better tip? What about over-pouring for visiting staff from other restaurants and bars, Acceptance - The industry attitude of adding employee theft losses or giving them a free drink? What about having a staff drink after close on an into the operating cost of running the bar must stop. Our industry has exceptionally busy night? What about keeping any overages when counting the losses far higher than any other industry, and yet they are accepted as cash at the end of the night? Use of “open keys” on the POS system to save time? a cost of doing business. Acceptance of internal theft as an operations cost is crazy. Stop making excuses and stamp it out! We seem to be afraid to talk about this problem. Most operators refuse to believe that their staff would steal. Yet we know that virtually every bar gives up more Written Policy - Employees must have a clear and written policy than 20% of their sales to illicit freebies, over-pouring, and, yes, theft. That fact within their manuals relating to employee theft. This policy must be alone suggests that a bar owner who doesn’t acknowledge a significant amount set in stone and followed to the letter. Don’t be afraid to use words of theft is ignoring reality - and making a lot less money as a result. like “terminated,” “arrested, “or “prosecuted”. Part of the problem is that managers have been promoted from the same team they are now meant to supervise: in most establishments the staff and Criminal Background Checks - These are inexpensive and have the managers are all friends and socialize together. Moreover, most managers find potential to save you thousands of dollars. it pretty difficult to discipline staff for doing something that the managers themselves used to do, before their promotion. Finally, unless the manager’s Cameras - Catch them in the act and, most importantly, have the compensation is tied directly to alcohol losses, the manager has little, if any, evidence on tape. motivation to “rock the boat” by vigilantly safeguarding the alcohol. Another contributing factor, like it or not, is that many owners often send the POS System - A good POS system will detail every drink sold and give wrong message. This happens when the owner takes alcohol home from the bar you a full record. If you aren’t able to track sales properly, a determined or borrows $100 from the register. It happens when the owner takes a bottle of thief will know that and have a field day. water or gives away a drink without having the bartender ring it up. Obviously, being the owner, you aren’t stealing, but you are sending the wrong message Independent Audits - Employ a professional independent audit to your staff. And, just like children, bartenders and servers pay more attention company to carry out weekly alcohol audits. Correctly and to your example than your policies. independently done, these will show just where and to what extent losses are occurring and expert advice on eliminating losses. However, the biggest reason that theft is ubiquitous is that most owners don’t think their staff would steal and they don’t have the data to know it is Incentives - Management compensation should be tied closely to happening. Most operators take a quick look at their pour cost to determine alcohol losses. Bonus your managers based on how close their pour how their bar is performing. If it is not out-of-line they think everything is fine. cost matches their ideal pour cost. But “out-of-line” simply means comparing it with previous month’s costs. What they don’t consider is the possibility that their bar has been plagued with theft Zero Tolerance - If an employee is caught stealing, owners must and over-pouring problems all along - and that their pour cost should always have a set plan and be ready to stick to it. Have this zero tolerance have been two or three points lower than it has been. policy written for employees to read. Have the policy outline steps The holy grail is establishing a culture of honesty in your establishment. for management to follow. Dishonesty is contagious, but if employees know that their colleagues are honest, because the alcohol is regularly audited and compared to sales, they Prosecute - If you have the evidence, then get the police involved. If will buy into the culture of honesty and accountability. the person has a conviction, then any future employer can see that and be warned. We have an industry that has two temptations for any dishonest person - cash and alcohol. Don’t be one of the operators Ian Foster is with Bevinco and their analysts are dedicated to improving their clients’ profitability. Call 1-888-Bevinco that discovers he has a problem when he has already lost thousands for more information. Peter Nelson is the Managing Director for Bevinco New Zealand. He can be reached at of dollars. Be proactive and prevent the problem. [email protected].

28 The Publican 28 The Publican Liquor Policy and Business Review by Dennis P. Coates

Maximizing LRS Values and Bankability and banks, and as a result, don’t sell at a multiplier much more than three to four times net income. The separation of LRS and LP licenses in December has created great opportunities to maximize LRS values and make them more bankable. It is essential that Third Party Use Agreeements, as they relate to LRSs, be replaced Licensing Audits with a transfer of the LRS license. If both licenses are operated by the same It is recommended that every year a checklist of items be reviewed to ensure company, one should be transferred into a new company. The accountants that issues don't arise that could affect your license and your business. The need to be involved to deal with valuation, capital gains, and timing. Subleases, matters that should be on the list include license renewal, ensuring that any where they exist in connection with the LRS Third Party Use agreement, should ownership changes have been reported to the LCLB, checking that any facility be replaced by head leases. The intent is that all aspects of the two operations changes have been reported to the LCLB, reviewing employee contracts and should be entirely separate, including bank accounts, employees and all details including WCB matters, ensuring that staff training and notification contractual obligations or guarantees. Banking should be separated out for systems are reviewed and updated, and noting that matters such as incident the two entities. logs are standardized.

“… all aspects of the two operations Third Party Use Agreements should be entirely separate…” The separation of LP and LRS licenses has eliminated the necessity of Third Party Use Agreements to a great extent. As a result of a legal dispute involving some of the Liquor Depot Stores, there is currently a cloud of uncertainty over These steps will ensure that when one of the businesses is sold, family, estate, the agreements that are used. The issue is the meaning of the term “business”. or tax planning and management can be done with fewer complications. It may The Act requires that a licensee must be fit and proper, have an interest in the take one or two fiscal year-ends to accomplish all the steps, but the benefits property or premises by way of lease or ownership, and own the business. are there to be had. Another section anticipates allowing someone to use your license as long as the The valuation of the two entities continues to be an inexact science. The arrangement is approved by the Branch. In the past, this has been interpreted multiples of net income for valuation will fluctuate based on geographical as meaning that the licensee would retain the interest in the property and location, level of gross income, competition from either public or private stores, retain ownership of the license. There is currently uncertainty over what else margins, and trends. There are many examples of liquor store pricing in certain must be retained, or what kinds of financial arrangements are acceptable. It municipalities that result in low income levels and increased expenses, which may be the safe course of action to submit the actual agreement to the Branch again affects the valuation formula. The current trend seems to be that LP for their approval. operations with a high dependence on food attract less interest from buyers

The Publican 29 Wine Report by Mark Shipway

Accessories Ask ten wine professionals for their opinions on wine accessories Various accessories are once again provided for this purpose, and you’ll get ten different answers. Although professionals may but I find pourers, wine collars, drop-stops and aerators to be argue on some points, they can be divided into roughly two largely superfluous. Aerators are devices designed to “loosen camps - those who endorse them and those that scorn them. up” powerful, tannic reds, however, this can be just as well Many sommeliers will tell you that the only accessory you will ever achieved by splash decanting. There is no doubt though that need is a corkscrew, though some would opine that a corkscrew aerators are more than just decoration and they do change is not an accessory at all, but an essential tool of the trade. the character of wine, which can be beneficial in certain cases. The most essential accessory a bartender, server, or consumer A good decanter or carafe is an essential accessory as it can be can own is a good corkscrew. What elements should you look for utilized for both aeration and the separation of precipitated in a good crank? Essentially, a corkscrew must be able to extract sediment. Carafes also look elegant on the table, so select any type of cork both easily and cleanly. The corkscrew that many an example from a high quality glassware manufacturer people like to use is the two-stage waiters’ friend (so-called as it like Riedel and choose a simple, practical design. The basic extracts the cork by a two-stage cantilever action), which has the Venetian Carafe shape does the job perfectly. major advantage of applying force vertically and not bending the In my opinion, wine stoppers and wine preservers like the cork to the side, which reduces the risk of cork breakage. This is Vacuvin, which sucks out air in an attempt to reduce the rate the most common type of corkscrew, but for your staff, look for a of oxidation in an opened bottle, are extraneous. The only brand that has a good quality knife blade and well-made casing method of wine preservation that I have found to work is (which often splits apart in cheap versions). the use of inert gas, which is dispensed from a canister and This is a much easier corkscrew to use than the original waiter’s friend with displaces the air in an opened bottle. It can keep some wines for up to a week its one stage lever, although some servers still prefer to carry this traditional without serious deterioration. Champagne stoppers or fizz-keepers, on the other version. Other useful corkscrews to have on hand at the bar are the two-pronged hand, are useful since champagne corks cannot be reinserted into the bottle “Ah-So” as well as the “Screwpull”, which are both hugely valuable when trying once removed, so it’s definitely worth having a couple on hand. to extract old and frail corks that might otherwise crumble or split when pulled Finally, cooler jackets and thermometers for controlling and monitoring service with a waiter’s friend. In my view, the large and cumbersome “Rabbit” corkscrew temperature of wines are devices that have a practical application, since cooler (so named as its shape resembles the head of a rabbit) is a gimmicky device to jackets are great for keeping wines cool on hot summer days. I like the simple have at home unless you really do struggle with using a regular crank. alcohol-filled dip thermometer the best. Once your bottle of wine is opened you will need to get it into whatever drinking Remember that these accessories aren’t just for your employees to use in your vessel you are utilizing (hopefully some appropriate, high quality stemware). bar, they should also be stocked in your store.

30 The Publican TECH TRENDS What’s Out There, What’s Useful - and What’s for You by Alex van Tol

Some technologies have been around for a while “We take that information and match it up to the Awareness of online ordering is beginning to - and with good reason: they work. But others are sales report,” explains inventory management increase, observes Katharine Jowett, at the Liquor new, and are making waves on the pub and liquor specialist Ian Foster. So if, for example, 100 ounces Distribution Branch, who helps get wholesalers up store scene. This issue, The Publican rounds up of Jack Daniel’s were poured in a given week, and and running with web-based ordering. “We have several technical innovations for your appraisal. if the sales data only reports 80 ounces being about 130 customers on board and we’re doing Could they be right for your establishment? sold, the bar owner will see the discrepancy at a about $70 million in sales on a 12-month basis,” she glance. From there, management can coach the reports. Part of the shift to online ordering involves staff in proper pouring - and keep an eye on the intensive training sessions, so that retailers can Keeping Track shifts where the discrepancies tend to turn up familiarize themselves with the ordering system Visitor analytics are a publican’s best friend. In most often. and get hands-on experience. Orientation sessions a nightclub setting, video cameras make fire “We use it twice a month,” reports Todd Arbuthnot, are followed up by eight weeks of customer service code compliance easy by tracking the number manager of 57 Below, Drink Lounge, The support to make sure LRS owners are succeeding of people coming in and out of your club. You’ll Landing Pub, and Fox’s Reach Pub. “Without the with the system. So far, so good, boasts Jowett: also learn where the bottlenecks are happening [inventory adjustments and usage reports] you are “We’ve had a 95% success rate with retailers who inside the club, so you can restructure things to guaranteed theft. With them, we can see what’s have attended the orientation sessions.” smooth traffic patterns, avoid lineups and sell going missing and when it’s going missing. Just more product. the knowledge that they’re being monitored Communicating With Your Customers In the LRS, retail visitor analytics can help with helps keep staff honest. We talk to the staff people counts and tracking flow throughout [constantly], whether the reports are good or bad.” With today’s advances in technology, it’s easier the store. When combined with POS data, it’s The frequent reporting helps to keep the lines of than ever to bring your customers into the loop. a powerful tool to help owners and managers communication open. Digital signage helps inform people of what your specials are, and freestanding info-pods (like understand their conversion rates. “Then they can Other places, such as Hillside Liquor Store, take Labatt’s) are a great way to catch your customers’ understand how effective their staff are in terms of inventory into their own hands. “We literally go eye. One new item that’s really making a splash closing the sale, or adding onto the sale,” explains out and count, because we have the same product and turning heads is Ask Ginger, an information retail analytics expert Rick Benson. This raw data in several different places,” reveals Manager kiosk that you can put pretty much anywhere in helps with basket fill too. For example, if you’re Stacy Brennan. “We’re pretty thorough that way.” your LRS and that helps customers understand selling lots of one item and the data’s telling you Counting three times a week - especially in high- the products you’ve got on your shelves. Got a that people are also buying a second item at the theft areas - and moving merchandise around question about Riesling vs. Sauvignon Blanc? same time, you’ll have a better handle on what helps to reduce loss and position products in Swipe the UPC over a little scanner and you’ll get products can be merchandised together. Knowing areas where they’re most likely to sell. L-BOSS everything from product knowledge to pairings the flow of traffic around your store as well as store controller software helps Hillside keep track and recipe ideas. It’s knowledge at the fingertips your sales patterns helps you figure out how to of what was sold on a given day. “So if we have a of your shoppers. And it comes in handy in an manage your retail floor area to avoid dead space tasting on a certain Friday, you can go back and industry where staff turnover is high. “It’s great as and maximize sales to each customer. see how many units of that particular thing sold,” a staff training tool,” observes Clayton Edwards, explains Brennan. Then, when it’s time to place an “We have had traffic tracking since 1990,” manager of the LRS at the Travelodge in Sidney. order, Brennan compiles a tendency report, which says Amy Hanson, manager of the Windward “With the turnover I get it’s impossible to train shows everything that was sold and guides her in Neighbourhood Pub LRS in Nanaimo. Cameras people in all the wines. It’s like your own private her next round of orders. are a preventive measure against theft, Hanson sommelier.” While customers are slower than staff notes. The system also provides hourly reports to catch on to Ginger’s offerings, Edwards sees throughout the day that help to track customers Organizing Your Ordering tech-savvy Gen Y at the scanning screen quite and average purchase amounts. “We can see often. “They’re looking up shooter recipes!” seasonal changes, and we can move stuff around Web-based ordering has taken off in recent There’s no shortage of widgets, programs and according to what we want to market.” months. With online ordering, there’s no need to systems to choose from. Select the tools that work manually produce a form to be phoned, faxed, or For some bars and pubs, inventory management best for your establishment’s particular needs, emailed. LRS owners can upload files from their solutions are a valuable tool. With this approach, keeping simplicity and ease of use at the top of POS systems, or even an Excel spreadsheet or Word an inventory management specialist is called in on your mind. a regular basis to track unopened product and to document. The weekly list can be saved and simply weigh and measure all the behind-the-bar bottles. updated every time a new order rolls around. 31 The Publican The Publican 31 LDB Report by Katharine Jowett

Liqueurs The liqueurs category is in a period of transition, Top 10 Ranked Liqueurs by Brand - Gross $ after having witnessed minimal growth every All sizes, all channels year since 2007/08, and a drop of 9% in 2009/10. Fortunately, liqueurs have been thrown a possible Rank Brand (all sizes) % of full year sales sold in lifeline with the growth of cocktail consumption in BC. Many BC lounges, bars, and restaurants the months of Nov/Dec 2009 are seeing a cocktail culture emerge, which is 1 Baileys Irish Cream 42% leading to experimentation with once relatively 2 Carolans Finest Irish Cream 35% obscure liqueurs. 3 Jägermeister 20% This decline in liqueur sales has prompted many liqueur brands to re-invent themselves, now 4 Kahlua 30% highlighting their youthful and contemporary 5 Grand Marnier 34% appeal and suitability as an ingredient in mixed cocktail drinks. Fruit liqueurs are now key 6 Amaretto - Disaronno 36% ingredients in martinis, and chocolate and coffee 7 Fireball – Dr. McGillicuddy's 23% liqueurs are reappearing in pub menus tailored for the holiday season. 8 Drambuie 37% Why should we be thinking liqueurs now? It is 9 Amarula 40% important to realize that many of the largest 10 Cadbury Caramilk Liqueur 92%* volume liqueurs do as much as 30-40% of their total yearly volume in the months of November *New product introduced to the market October 2009 and December alone. Hence, it is important to order adequate quantities early in the season and even give thought to expanding the size of your retail liqueur section to accommodate the additional seasonal demand. Since the introduction of Baileys Irish Cream Cream, and O’Darby Irish Cream, which use Irish liqueur back in 1974, cream liqueurs continue whiskey as the base ingredient. The mix of coffee, The following shows popular liqueur brand to dominate the BC liqueur market by selling up cocoa, vanilla scent, and dash of Irish whiskey rankings in B.C. and the percentage of total yearly to three times more than other liqueurs. Baileys make these some of the most popular liqueurs in sales that the November and December holiday sparked the introduction of various other rivals the BC marketplace. season represents. such as Carolans Finest Irish Cream, Feeney’s Irish

32 The Publican In addition to Irish cream liqueurs, the following liqueur products are also Chocolate Martini popular during the holiday season: Alizé • 1 dash orange liqueur A refreshing mix of exotic flavours (passion fruit base with strawberry, lychee, • ½ oz. crème de cacao or mango, cherry, ginger or cranberry) chocolate liqueur Baja Rosa • 2 oz. vodka Strawberry cream with tequila Fill shaker with ice. Add ingredients Cadbury Caramilk Liqueur Chocolate cream liqueur to shaker. Stir and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with Cointreau chocolate-covered cherry or small A marriage between sweet and bitter orange peels chocolate chips. Goldschläger Cinnamon Schnapps Liqueur with gold leaf that is reminiscent of red cinnamon heart candy Navan A natural, vanilla, cognac-based liqueur Peppermint Schnapps A full flavour peppermint liqueur Sour Puss Raspberry Hazelnut Liqueur Toddy Raspberry liqueur • ½ oz. hazelnut liqueur Patrón XO Café • 1 cinnamon stick, for garnish Coffee liqueur made with tequila • 1 lemon slice Looking for ways to rejuvenate the liqueur category? Present these fabulous • Hot water holiday liqueur cocktail recipes to your customers this festive season: • 1 tbsp liquid honey Pour the hazelnut liqueur into a brandy snifter. Add honey and lemon Peppermint Snowfall peel. Fill snifter with hot water to taste. • 1 oz. espresso vodka • ¾ oz. peppermint schnapps • 1 oz. white chocolate liqueur • 1 dollop of heavy whipping cream • crushed peppermint • chocolate dipped peppermint stick Pointsettia Cocktail garnish - optional Rim an old fashioned glass with white • Champagne chocolate liqueur. Dip rim of glass in crushed peppermint. • 1/2 oz. orange liqueur Set aside. Combine liquids in cocktail shaker with ice. Shake • 3 oz. cranberry juice to blend and chill. Strain into peppermint-rimmed old Add chilled orange liqueur and cranberry fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with chocolate dipped to chilled champagne glass. Stir and top peppermint stick. with champagne just before serving.

Drink recipes courtesy of drinkoftheweek.com.”

The Publican 33 EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE SALES CONTESTS by Jim Sullivan

Employee contests can be used to improve a different shift manager in charge of each team. contest winners is two-fold: 1) show appreciation service, sales, cleanliness, labour, ticket times, It's OK to post individual cashier or server's sales to the achiever and 2) motivate the non-winners costs, and dozens of other operational issues. or check averages (in fact, I strongly recommend to do better next month. it), and it's certainly OK to encourage individual Here's a collection of the most basic and easy- Here are a few classic check-boosting games to achievement each shift, but tally collective effort to-use employee sales contest ideas to help you help focus your team on increasing store sales for the contest. kickstart sales, and create some fun competition this quarter: among the crew every shift. 3. Let the team set its own goals. For instance, if The "Perfect Guest Check" - Have a game that you tell your crew how much you want them to When planning, designing, and implementing encourages servers to amass as many "Perfect increase sales, those are your goals, not theirs. employee sales contests, remember these five Guest Checks" as possible on each shift - a guest Give them their recent sales averages, and ask things: check that includes a beverage, an appetizer, an them what they think they can do collectively to 1. Make sure that each contest is staged for no entrée, and a dessert. Each "Perfect Guest Check" improve those numbers. Most of the time, they'll longer than 30 days. Team members tend to lose recorded receives a special raffle ticket (or small set goals higher than what you would have. interest in contests that last longer than a month. gift) for the individual or team. The more perfect 4. Let the team pick prizes. Don't pick prizes 2. Set team sales goals whenever possible, and checks you sell, the greater your odds of winning that would motivate you; your team may have avoid pitting individual crew members against the raffle drawing at the end of the month. Pair completely different perspectives. Ask them what one another in monthly contests. Let them up cooks and dishwashers on the different server would motivate them the most. compete against other stores or other districts, but sales teams to make them partners in the contest not against each other unless they're in teams. Put 5. Celebrate winners. The point of recognizing too. 34 The Publican 34 The Publican Personal Best - Record the highest sales each employee has ever posted during a single shift. Now have a contest to see who can exceed their personal bests in a team setting. Be sure to post the results, and recognize and reward the team as well as individual achievers. Sales Bingo - Create a "bingo-style" game board with at least 12-16 squares with a different menu item (appetizer, dessert, beverages, specials, promotions, etc.) in each square. Servers who sell every item on the sheet, or four in a row, win a prize. This classic contest is a staple of every savvy manager's playbook. Ticket Time Dollars - You probably have specific cooking time goals set for every appetizer or entrée. If takes too long to get that food out, service suffers and sales drop. Here's an incentive that might help. Before a busy shift, string 10 or 15 chits on a wire behind the pass-through window. Tell the cooks that for every order that goes out beyond the targeted cooking time (measure by the time the ticket was fired), you'll remove a chit. Whatever's left at the end of the shift is theirs to cash in. Highest Team Check Average - Measure the individual check averages of every server and bartender, then assign them to three random teams, cipher their collective check average, and encourage them to beat the other teams’ posted averages. Assign a different supervisor to each team, so that he or she can be competitive as well, and coach their team to victory. Raffles - Go to a stationery or party store and purchase a package of raffle tickets. Every time a cook, server, or bartender does something commendable, give them a raffle ticket. The more they earn, the better their chances of winning the prize at the end of the contest. Once your crew is on a daily diet of fun contests and monthly incentives, the critical companion step is to implement habitual recognition and intermittent rewards. Popular no-cost and low-cost incentives include Lotto tickets, iTunes gift cards, movie tickets, doing their sidework, letting them off early, unexpected food treats, pass-around trophies, and don't forget the simplest and most effective incentive of all: a simple and sincere thank you. Always supervise with an attitude of gratitude. Anything worth doing is worth measuring, and if you don't reward your best • Marketing Tips performers, you can bet that your competition will. • Past Issues • Editorial Schedule Copyright 2010 Sullivsion.com • Advertising Rates Jim Sullivan is a popular speaker at foodservice and retail industry conferences worldwide. See the free podcasts, Visit us on the web! articles, templates, and product catalog at www.sullivision.com. emcmarketing.com

The Publican 35 Spotlight on Agave Spirits by Shawn Soole

The Untapped Mexican Elixirs three weeks to five years. The periods of aging way that it adds complexity and balance to liquid, vary between tequila and mezcal. adding in flavours of wood, caramel, and leather Tequila can bring back those memories of late while taking out any harsher chemical flavours. Mezcals have always been associated with the nights as a young adult; your first night at the bar There are four distinct styles of aging for agave worm or the scorpion that lies in wait for you at trying to test your drinking stamina with shot after spirits. First you have Blanco or Plata; these styles the bottom of the bottle. To put urban legends shot of cheap tequila. Each shot burning, turning require no aging. These are clear and are used to bed, that little creature is not there to suck your night into a blur of beer chasers and a distinct mainly in cocktails. In Mexico, people prefer to out the alcohol from the liquor, only to give you turning in your stomach. Mezcal probably conjures drink it as an apéritif before lunch in the classic a high octane kick at the end of the bottle, it’s up memories of dares and pressure from fellow fashion of neat with salt and lime. This style of simply a gimmick to get you to buy it. A good drinkers to eat the preserved worm or scorpion agave spirit is beginning to get popular with the mezcal is great enough on its own. Mezcal is a after the bottle is done. These are the recollections tequila fraternity, due to producers taking the style of agave spirit that is not for the faint of of people all over the world when you mention the time to create a great base spirit instead of letting heart, produced further south in the Oaxaca word tequila, creating a bad name for liquor with aging do the work. This new, invigorated thinking region using a distillation process that is slightly the Mexican spirit for life. But what happens when behind Blancos and Platas has made way for different to tequila, making it a worthy adversary. your humble tequila and mezcal gets a high-end drinkers who would love the aged agaves to come Mezcal distillers have spent over 400 years makeover? Well move over gimmicky, burning back and try these complex yet light spirits. These perfecting the spirit, first by the indigenous locals lighter fuel! The Mexicans are bringing their art silver beauties have enlightening flavours of sweet and the Spanish conquistadores. It starts with of fine agave spirit-making north. agave nectar, tropical fruits, and refreshing citrus. five different types of agave being harvested in a Agave spirits can be broken down into a few similar manner to tequila, and then taken for the Put an agave spirit in a cask for at least two months, distinctive groups that most people would have first and very different step of production. but not longer than a year, and what do you get? heard of, plus a few that they may not have. A Reposado. Reposados are the biggest selling Everybody has heard of the famous tequila - the agave spirits in Mexico, used to pair with food trendy shot to have at the hippest joints. Tequila is as you would wine in North America. Offering made in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, the light, refreshing flavours of a Blanco with the down the Jalisco coast to Guadalajara and then beginning complexity of an Añejo, this style of east to Arandas. Tequila and agave spirits in agave gives the drinker a step-up experience that general are produced from - you guessed it - they can’t achieve with a regular Blanco. When it agave. Agave, long thought to be a cactus, now comes to aging of agave spirits, there are no hard has its own classification. There are 423 species of and fast rules on what they should be aged in. agave in this region, not all good enough to make tequila. The best agave to use in tequila is blue The last two styles can be grouped together - agave, but with shortages in supply over the last Añejo and the latest (available only in the last few ten years, many big names in tequila have used years) Extra Añejo. Añejo is aged for a minimum of one year but less than three. This is the big daddy a blend of blue agave and other agaves. These The mezcal piña is shredded of its leaves and tequilas are classified as mixto. of all agave spirits. It’s all about the wood and the husks. The leaves are then placed under a pit of flavours the wood brings to the spirit. Caramel, Tequila production is a labour intensive endeavour. river rocks to smoke the piña, which is covered vanilla, and cigar box come to mind when smelling From the waiting period of up to 10 years for the with the husks to keep in the flavour. The pit can a fine Añejo; these follow through to flavours of agave to mature, to the sometimes dangerous job be any size, but its main purpose is to smoke and leather, chocolate, and sweetened agave nectar. of slicing the leaves off with a coa de jima, a six foot heat the piña to concentrate the natural sugars This is the epitome of a fine sipping spirit, similar pole with a paddle like, razor sharp blade attached in the bulb. The smoking of the piña before to a scotch or even-aged rum. Extra Añejo is the to it. It takes a jimador less than two minutes to crushing it is the key step in the production latest in aged agaves, aged for a minimum of five harvest the agave, slicing through the leaves with process; it can go on for as long as five days. What years. What does this give you? A pure, smooth, such precision as to not slice off his toes. The result remains after the smoking, is a charred bulb of woody sipper that will change your mind forever is a piña which resembles something of a green concentrated agave syrup, ready for crushing. The about tequilas and mezcals. and white pineapple that weighs anywhere up to steps after this are very similar to tequila, but the 170 pounds. Inside this piña is the sweet nectar; to final product is what differentiates mezcal from With North America beginning to get more fine obtain the nectar the piña is baked to caramelize tequila. Mezcal has a distinct, obvious smoky imported spirits, you can’t help but wonder what the juice that will soon be extracted by crushing nose to it with other aromas including tar, leather, is in store for agave spirits. Perhaps your customer it. Traditionally the piña is crushed using a giant and charcoal. It is more of a sipper similar to a is a purist who likes her Blanco neat with some mortar wheel, which is towed by a mule or an Speyside Scotch, rather than a quick shot at the fine chicken tamales or in a classic Margarita, ox. The nectar is then distilled straight to create start of the night. or maybe one of your regulars is a scotch fiend who is looking for a new conquest. Whatever the 100% agave or mixed with water to create a mixto Agave spirits are complex, as you can already and distilled in a traditional copper still. Once case, tequilas and mezcals have brushed off their see. There are different methods, styles, and immoral and sometimes downright evil cloaks and the tequila is finished, it is bottled right away to aging. Aging any spirit can be beneficial in the become a blanco, and aged for anywhere from are now a force to be dealt with. 36 The Publican Marketplace Advertisers

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The Publican 37 Names in the News

ABLE BC welcomes the following new member and associate: Duane Jordan, The The Heriot Bay Inn on Quadra Island has hosted three fundraising dinners Best Damn Sports Bar, Penticton; and Kal Sidhu, Visions Business Solutions, throughout the year. These events raised at least $2,000 each for the Quadra Surrey. Island Children’s Centre, North Island Survivors Healing Society, and the Quadra Island Seniors Housing Society. Delicious food was teamed up with fantastic The Metropole, established in the historic Vancouver neighbourhood of music or storytelling for memorable evenings benefitting worthwhile causes. Gastown in 1906, has been re-launched as the Metropole Community Pub. The pub will donate 25% of its annual profits to organizations in the Downtown Central City Brewing has won the legal battle with Bear Republic Brewing of Eastside that are dedicated to making a difference, such as United We Can, Healdsburg, California over alleged trademark infringement. The judge ruled the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, the Vancouver Food Bank, and that Central City’s Red Racer brand did not infringe on Bear Republic’s Racer Gallery Gachet. Donated funds to United We Can will be used in the charity’s 5 or Red Rocket marks. lane-cleaning program, which employs local residents who are considered To help promote Vancouver Craft Beer Week, which took place in May, event unemployable due to mental health, poverty, addiction, and physical disabilities organizers produced a video entitled “I Am a Canadian Craft Brewer”. It primarily to clean sidewalks, lanes, alleys, and other public spaces as well as pick up litter. features brewers from BC, but is also meant to honour the hard work and The Hook & Ladder Pub held its 25th annual Duck Race fundraiser for Surrey passion of small-scale brewers all across the country. Check it out on YouTube. Memorial Hospital in April. For 25 years the pub has been "renting" rubber Beers of British Columbia is a new, 190-page, full colour guidebook written ducks to their customers for $5. These ducks race down the creek, which runs by Leo Buijs after five months of research visiting breweries and brewpubs parallel to the pub, along with 699 others, in the hope of winning $500. It's a throughout the province. The book evaluates each of the 300 different family event with free hot dogs and pop for kids, face painting, and balloons. beers brewed in BC, and makes recommendations for the novice as well Every child goes home with a prize. Pat Reffeling, Manager at the Hook & Ladder as the experienced beer consumer. It comes with a glossary of beer terms boasts, “To date we have raised nearly $35,000 for the hospital, specifically the and information on how to perform a proper tasting. Each beer is described children’s centre.” according to its content and taste experience and is accompanied by a full colour The Oliver Twist Pub sponsored a weekend baseball tournament fundraiser for picture of the label. The book includes the history and description of about 55 Kidsport. 20 teams participated in the tournament, which was well attended breweries and brewpubs in three regions of BC: the Lower Mainland, Vancouver and very successful. The pub coordinated the set up of the beer garden, and Island, and the south Central Interior. A cross-referenced index makes it easy provided Serving It Right employees to staff it for the two-day tournament. to find a particular beer or brewery and you will find a short history and great KidSport is a community-based sports funding program that provides grants ideas on food-pairing with some of the specific beer types. for financially disadvantaged children ages 6 to 18 to participate in amateur sport and learn valuable life lessons and skills.

BC Hospitality Foundation by Renée Blackstone

Frank Georgas of Vancouver has gotten a new lease on life - a lift, if you will were six chances to win hole-in-one prizes, one of which was won with the - thanks to the BC Hospitality Foundation. Georgas has amyotrophic lateral winner taking home a prize of $5,000 cash and a set of new golf clubs. sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease, that has severely restricted The golf tournament was able to raise approximately $80,000, according to his mobility. BCHF Business Development Manager, Alan Sacks, who explains, “The generous Georgas is in a wheelchair and has been unable to get out of the house, but the support of our sponsors and golfers enables the foundation to support our installation of an elevator in his home, paid for by many generous donations own hospitality community. The generosity shown at this year's event shows to BCHF fundraisers over the years, now allows him to get fresh air and visit his that the foundation’s objectives have been clearly identified as being a high beloved grandchildren as well as friends. priority in the industry.” Before he became ill, Georgas enjoyed an extensive career in the hospitality For those with an “appetite for giving,” the BCHF is planning a new fundraising industry, starting with a first job as a dishwasher. He's also been a cook, chef, event on October 25 called Dine and Dazzle. The event will be staged at the and restaurant operator for various employers, including working as chef at the third-floor Summit Level of the Vancouver Convention Centre and is intended Delta Hotel properties in Campbell River and Prince George. to be a less formal than traditional gala. The views will be unparalleled, the food and wine will be fabulous, and there will also be lots going on that will Meanwhile, the foundation's biggest fundraiser - the annual golf tournament satisfy an appetite for high-energy fun, including the honouring of those who held at the spectacular Westwood Plateau course in Coquitlam on July 19 - sold have given unstintingly to the industry over the years. For more information on out as more than 200 people from all sectors of the industry turned out for this and other BCHF events, please go to www.bchospitalityfoundation.com. the event. Generous support from suppliers and donors provided food and beverages at each hole, while an exciting silent auction drew bids on such great Renee Blackstone is a freelance journalist who sits on the BCHF Advisory Board. items as flights to the Yukon, hotel stays, and fabulous wines. Additionally, there

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