Think of it as an indie beer boutique.

With Premier Kathleen Wynne set to modernize Ontario’s beer and wine retailing by allowing supermarket sales, the province’s independent breweries are seeking their own shops.

Ontario Craft Brewers on Tuesday asked Wynne to allow established breweries to open at least one off-site store apiece and to let them sell one another’s products.

“We believe our share could double or triple in the next few years, as our access improves,” association vice-chair Darren Smith, president of Lake of Bays Brewing Co., said in a statement.

Smith predicted the change could create 1,000 to 2,000 brewery jobs and an additional four to five jobs per store that opens.

Wynne, who is awaiting advice from former TD Bank chair Ed Clark’s panel on maximizing provincial assets like the alcohol distribution system, sounded open to the idea.

“I’m not closing the door on any of those things,” the premier said Tuesday night following a largely ceremonial meeting with Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area mayors and municipal chairs.

“When I talk about ease of access, I’m talking about ease of access to a variety of brands.

“I know that the craft brewers are talking with Ed Clark and his panel. As I’ve said before I want to move towards a more rational and fair system and one that improves convenience.”

While Wynne stressed she is “not going to preempt Ed Clark’s recommendations,” she has already ruled out beer and wine sales in convenience stores.

The craft brewers’ plan is similar to a private member’s bill now being pushed through the legislature by Progressive Conservative MPP Todd Smith (Prince Edward—Hastings).

Under the proposed legislation, which passed second reading last month and is being studied by the finance committee, craft brewers, cideries, wineries, and small distillers would be allowed to sell others’ bottles.

The Star first revealed the government will soon unveil a plan to allow beer and wine sales in about 300 supermarkets across the province.

Sources say the Grits will auction off licences so no single grocery chain would be allowed to purchase more than a quarter of them.

Distribution to supermarkets would still be handled through the existing government-owned Liquor Control Board of Ontario and the private Beer Store, and spirits would still be available only at LCBO outlets.

The reforms will be announced in Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget expected next month.

Wynne has long been a big booster of the province’s cottage brewers.

In a chamber of commerce speech in Barrie last week, she promised to move “as quickly as possible” toward a more consumer-friendly market for beer and wine.

The premier underscored the need for a “fairer approach” to enable craft breweries to grow and expand beyond the constraints of the 448-outlet Beer Store, which is owned by the foreign parents of Labatt, Molson and Sleeman, and the 649-store LCBO.

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She even gave a shout-out to Barrie-based Flying Monkeys brewery, which has 39 employees and has begun exporting to the U.S., Europe and Asia.

“If there was a level playing field for them here at home they could be doing even better, they could be selling more product and hiring more people right here,” Wynne said last Tuesday.

In a bid to appease craft brewers, the Beer Store in January announced it would sell minority shares to Ontario-based microbreweries for as little as $100.

But the craft breweries panned the scheme as a “Hail Mary” pass from Big Beer to keep Wynne from ending a monopoly that dates to 1927.

The premier herself has been dismissive of the Beer Store gambit.

Tory MPP Lisa MacLeod (Nepean—Carleton) said the craft brewers’ proposal “sounds like a great idea . . . that needs to be explored.”

The beer facts

The beer business in Ontario is worth about $3 billion a year.

Beer is allowed to be sold only at 448 Beer Stores, 649 LCBO outlets, 212 LCBO-affiliated “agency stores” in rural areas, and directly from small breweries.

There are about 150 craft brewers in Ontario; about 50 belong to the Ontario Craft Brewers association.

About 7,000 people work at the Beer Store, which is owned by foreign-controlled Labatt, Molson and Sleeman. The three big breweries employ 2,600 Ontarians.

There about 1,000 employees of Ontario craft brewers.

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