Canadians are buying less alcohol overall, but ready-to-drink cocktails and premium spirits continue to attract consumers seeking convenience, value and higher-quality experiences. Meanwhile, retail modernization and shifting trade dynamics are creating new opportunities across the alcohol sector.
BNN Bloomberg spoke with Florence Tresarrieu, president and CEO at Corby Spirit and Wine, about changing consumer behaviour, the rise of ready-to-drink cocktails, the impact of Canadians shifting away from U.S. alcohol products, and the potential benefits of reducing interprovincial trade barriers.
Key Takeaways
- Canadians are moderating alcohol consumption, with affordability concerns playing a major role in purchasing decisions.
- Ready-to-drink cocktails are gaining popularity because of convenience, value, quality and portion control.
- Canadian whisky brands have benefited as consumers shift away from U.S. alcohol products amid trade tensions.
- Expanded retail access in Ontario has helped increase distribution opportunities for wine and ready-to-drink products.
- Reducing interprovincial trade barriers could improve consumer access to Canadian products and support industry growth.
Read the full transcript below:
LINDSAY: Ontario’s alcohol sector is in flux. New retail rules are reshaping where drinks can be sold. U.S. tariffs are reshaping trade dynamics, and Canadians are apparently buying less alcohol. Here to break down the trends and tell us how her company is adapting is Florence Tresarrieu, president and CEO of Corby Spirit and Wine. It’s great to have you in studio, and you brought everything with you here, which is great. Friday, it’s Friday, and we love this. Okay, so we’ll start with that recent report from Statistics Canada, which shows Canadians are buying less alcohol. Have you noticed that? Has it been impacting your business? Yes, and how have you been trying to adapt?
FLORENCE: Yes, so definitely. Thanks a lot for having me. This is something that obviously we’ve witnessed across alcoholic beverages. I think maybe unpacking that, you have different categories when you speak about alcoholic beverages. You have beer, wine, spirits and RTD, ready-to-drink. We’ve noticed beer and wine, and spirits to a smaller extent, declining. So it’s not a massive decline, it’s a slight decline, but then at the same time we’ve seen a massive pickup in ready-to-drink, so RTD cocktails in a can, which has been proving very well for us.
So I think, answering your question, what matters to us is where we play and how we win. I think where we play is that we’ve been quite early into the RTD space, and this is proving very successful for us. And how we win is gaining market share in spirits, which is something that we’ve been delivering consistently over the recent quarters.
LINDSAY: What is it that people like about the RTD drinks already?
FLORENCE: Yeah, it’s many things, actually. I think the first one is convenience, which is the main one. So it’s very much drinks on the go. You can grab that and then you can drink outside. So this element is quite key.
I think the quality as well. Many things have been discussed about RTDs, but I think the RTD category offers a different quality, and this is something that the consumer is very much after.
And then the other one is the price. So when you were saying that Canadians are buying less alcohol, it’s fair, it’s true. But when we ask them the reason why they’re buying less, the first reason they put up front is cost. So that’s the first reason, by quite a margin, to be honest.
I think RTD is offering a cheaper way to consume alcohol, and a good-quality one. So these are the main reasons that are coming up front.
I think the other one as well, which is quite interesting to unpack, is portion control. When you have an RTD like this, you know how much you’re drinking. You know the sugar content. And I guess, with the lifestyle choices that people have these days, this is proving quite convenient and timely as well.
LINDSAY: Good point. Okay, and then the other part of this is in light of the trade war, right? A lot of Canadians, we’ve been seeing them boycott U.S. products when it comes to alcohol, given the trade war between Canada and the U.S. Have you noticed that trend showing up, or what have you noticed when it comes to that side of things?
FLORENCE: Yes. As a matter of fact, for the last maybe 15 to 18 months, U.S. products have been off the shelf, which has been quite a strong benefit for us because we have a large portfolio of brands and many iconic Canadian brands.
We’ve seen a massive uptick in Canadian whisky. I think it’s been an opportunity for many consumers to maybe rediscover or discover Canadian whisky. We have one brand here, Lot No. 40. The growth on Lot No. 40 has been spectacular. We’ve grown more than 100 per cent over the last 12 months, which is telling the appeal of the brand, the taste, but also the pride of being Canadian and buying Canadian products.
So yeah, that’s very much something which has been positive for us, something that we’re continuing to build into through loyalty.
But it’s not just Canadian products where we’ve seen the appeal. Another one is Jameson here. We’ve seen very strong growth. It’s down to the brand as well and the work we’re doing with it. But I think it’s a matter of consumers shifting their choices from U.S. products into something else, another proposition.
LINDSAY: We were already talking about Corby’s ready-to-drink cocktails. You’ve been seeing a lot of strength in that sector. I think some of them are in the front here, right? So we can show those. Do you expect that trend to continue moving forward, given some of the trends you’ve been seeing?
FLORENCE: Yes, so it’s a very key question. Is it structural or is it just a fad? Is it just the moment?
For us it’s very much structural. RTD is very much the fourth category. I was saying you have three main categories in alcoholic beverages, beer, wine and spirits, and RTD is definitely the fourth one.
It’s already 10 per cent of the market, so we are expecting that to stay. Back to the reasons that I was mentioning: the convenience, the quality, the cost, the portion control. All that is playing into the category sticking around for quite a while.
LINDSAY: We have seen your sales from international markets down 20 per cent over the year. What’s behind some of that weakness that you saw?
FLORENCE: I think it’s more in spirits than it is in RTD. It’s down to cost. Some of those products are relatively expensive. In spirits, by definition, it’s a discretionary spend.
I think consumers are being more stretched for money and making some choices. Some of the things that they cut are sometimes spirits. So I think some of that cost pressure that is affecting the consumer, we see that in the sales. Similarly, we see the uptake in RTD. So it’s a bit of a give and take.
LINDSAY: Right. We’ve also been hearing a lot from the federal government over the past year about breaking down interprovincial trade barriers. I wonder if that were to happen, because obviously a lot of those trade barriers are still in place. How would that affect your business? Would it be a positive or a negative for it?
FLORENCE: It would be a positive. We very much welcome that. It’s better access for our products to consumers. It’s better access for Canadian producers. So this is definitely something that we do welcome.
We work quite closely with the authorities to try to make that happen in a responsible and good way. But this is definitely a positive for us.
LINDSAY: So how would it be positive? What kinds of changes would you expect to see if there were actually more trade between different provinces and territories in Canada?
FLORENCE: I think it’s the ability for consumers, wherever they are, to have access to products. For instance, we have a winery in Niagara, and it’s not super easy for someone who’s based in Vancouver to buy it.
So it would make access much easier. This is providing better access for products to consumers. This is definitely something that we favour.
LINDSAY: Here in Ontario, we’ve seen the Ontario government expanding where you can buy alcoholic beverages over the last couple of years, removing that kind of monopoly that the LCBO had in the past. How has that been affecting your side of the business?
FLORENCE: It’s a positive. As a matter of fact, this is for wine and RTD. This is not the case for spirits. You can only buy spirits in LCBO stores in Ontario.
Some of the strength that we’ve seen behind RTD has to do with the fact that distribution has expanded. This is definitely a tailwind behind that.
You now have the ability to sell through more than 8,000 outlets. This is a massive expansion. This is definitely something that we’re welcoming, and it has been providing a bit of a boost to us.
Having said that, spirits, which are very core to our portfolio, are still sold in the LCBO, and we’re doing very well and gaining market share. So yes, we have an element of distribution expansion, which is accretive for us, but the fundamentals of the company are very strong. It’s not just distribution expansion.
LINDSAY: Right. Okay, we’ll leave it there. I appreciate you coming in and bringing all of this with you. It really gets me excited for the weekend. Thanks so much.
That is Florence Tresarrieu, president and CEO of Corby Spirit and Wine, jo
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This BNN Bloomberg summary and transcript of the June 5, 2026 interview with Florence Tresarrieu are published with the assistance of AI. Original research, interview questions and added context was created by BNN Bloomberg journalists. An editor also reviewed this material before it was published to ensure its accuracy and adherence with BNN Bloomberg editorial policies and standards.
