The LCBO’s top executive says the retailer is looking to meet demand from many Ontario consumers looking for beverage choices with lighter alcohol content. 

George Soleas, the president and CEO at the LCBO, said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Thursday that the company now provides nearly 1,000 different products for consumers looking to purchase beverages with little or no alcohol. 

“The LCBO is one of the largest beverage alcohol retailers and wholesalers in Canada and definitely in the world. So we feel that we have a certain responsibility to influence, in a good way, Ontarians as well as Canadians,” Soleas said. 

“One of the things that we do for social responsibility is to provide options for those who either want to consume less or they want to consume products that have no alcohol.”

Soleas added that the LCBO works to challenge suppliers to bring about innovative products that appeal to consumers looking for lighter beverage options. He said the company offers 240 different types of lower-alcohol beer and about 140 different types of wine products with lower alcohol content. 

“So these are choices that I think that consumers are looking for, either to supplement what they drink in terms of the alcoholic beverage or if they don't want to drink, they can have those products instead of an alcoholic beverage,” Soleas said.