Dirty Laundry winery in Summerland, B.C., estimates it will sell fewer bottles of red and white in grocery stores as shelf space previously reserved for local companies will soon be shared with U.S. imports.

害羞草研究所淚 don害羞草研究所檛 think it害羞草研究所檒l be devastating, but it will certainly impact us,害羞草研究所� said Paul Sawler, the winery害羞草研究所檚 director of sales and marketing.

B.C.害羞草研究所檚 wine industry will soon lose its advantage of dedicated grocery in-store shelf space 害羞草研究所� a practice deemed discriminatory through the lens of U.S. President Donald Trump害羞草研究所檚 America-first ethos 害羞草研究所� as grocers will have to make room for out-of-province offerings.

But with the Nov. 1, 2019 deadline for implementation more than a year away, those in the industry say it害羞草研究所檚 difficult to know what the change will look like and just how hard it害羞草研究所檒l hit local vintners.

Imported wines currently can only be sold at the province害羞草研究所檚 grocery stores in a so-called store-within-a-store model, which the U.S. has called discriminatory and complained about to the World Trade Organization alleging unfair sales practices.

The U.S. and Canada agreed to end the 害羞草研究所渙ngoing trade concern害羞草研究所� in a pair of side letters to the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement reached late Sunday night.

The change is not surprising, but is disappointing, said Miles Prodan, the CEO of the B.C. Wine Institute, a not-for-profit organization that represents the interests of the province害羞草研究所檚 wineries.

READ MORE:

There are 271 licensed grape wineries in the province, according to the institute, and the industry contributes $2.8 billion annually to the B.C. economy.

The majority of the wineries are small in scale, he said, producing about 5,000 cases a year or less.

The grocery-store model was the only real channel many of these smaller operations had to access consumers, he said.

害羞草研究所淭he growth of the sales for small wineries increased significantly,害羞草研究所� he said.

害羞草研究所淧rior to that, and it continues to be, very difficult for small wineries to access retail stores,害羞草研究所� he said, adding everyone, including foreign wines, beer and spirits, is fighting for limited space within existing stores.

For Dirty Laundry, which this year will produce 30,000 cases, it害羞草研究所檚 not a critical source of sales, but an important market and the winery害羞草研究所檚 fastest growing one, Sawler said.

It accounts for 15 per cent of the company害羞草研究所檚 sales in the province, not including on the vineyard害羞草研究所檚 premises, he said. The company anticipates its sales in the channel will fall as a result.

害羞草研究所淏ut how much it will impact us? You know, it害羞草研究所檚 anybody害羞草研究所檚 guess at this point,害羞草研究所� he said, adding a lot depends on how the grocery chains handle the change.

The grocers themselves don害羞草研究所檛 yet know what the future will look like.

Only 29 grocery stores in the province sell B.C. wine in aisles as the practice requires a special licence.

Save-On-Foods offers provincial wine at 19 of its stores.

害羞草研究所淲e don害羞草研究所檛 believe this change in legislation will affect our operations and it definitely does not affect our long-standing commitment to supporting our local B.C. wineries and the B.C. agri-food industry,害羞草研究所� the chain wrote in an email.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. sells B.C. wine at 10 of its stores, but doesn害羞草研究所檛 have any further licences and thus no plans for expanding the practice at the moment, spokeswoman Catherine Thomas wrote in an email.

The company doesn害羞草研究所檛 have enough information about the changes to provide any comment on how its in-store wine stock will change come November 2019, she said.

Aleksandra Sagan, The Canadian Press

Like us on and follow us on .