On the heels of the holidays, catering companies in Vancouver have been left with a bad taste in their mouths—and it’s not from expired eggnog. Because of outdated provincial liquor laws, the local businesses must force their customers to buy, deliver and return their own beer and wine.
“It’s outdated and very confusing for everybody,” says Donna Wadsworth of Savoury City Catering on Fraser Street. Catering businesses like Wadsworth’s lose customers because they can’t buy or sell booze in British Columbia. “We can’t get your special occasion licence, we can’t purchase or transport your liquor—you have to do it all yourself.”
This becomes a particularly embarrassing problem for party planners hosting international guests who are unfamiliar with B.C.’s restrictions on alcohol. Wadsworth calls the legislation a logistical nightmare for her customers.
“We’re starting to get to the stage where large companies from out-of-town ask, but they can’t do parties here because of the law,” she says. “What client is going to get their own alcohol for a 300-person party?”
James Thornley, general manager of Peake of Catering, says Vancouver’s entire tourism sector is affected. “Tourism Vancouver has backed us saying this is a very serious loss of revenue,” he says. “We’re competing against other global destinations for these clients—if it’s too much hassle, they’ll take their business to Hawaii.”
Ten local catering companies are asking the provincial government to review the legislation. The group suggests a new classification of liquor licence, similar to one held by Alberta’s catering companies: “We have the example of the class D license in Alberta,” explains Debra Lykkemark, president of Culinary Capers. “It’s suitable for caterers, hotels and restaurants serving off-site.”
B.C.’s Liquor Control and Licensing Branch has said it is considering the request. “Our government’s goal is to assist business owners, when possible,” LCLB spokesperson Janice Carlson says. "We are exploring a number of possible options that would allow caterers to offer this additional service to their clients."
Caterers who have been in the business for a decade or more note that these regulations were not always so stringently enforced. Until a few years ago, many companies applied for special occasion liquor licenses on behalf of their clients without issue. “Unbeknownst to us, we were legally not allowed to transport liquor or purchase it—even if we weren’t making any money,” Lykkemark says.
In 2009, Lykkemark and many other catering companies received notice to stop buying and transporting alcohol—or face up to $100,000 in fines. Carlson says the liquor branch learned caterers were unlawfully purchasing alcohol for customers through online advertising.
“Culinary Capers Catering is not licensed to sell liquor and, as a catering business, is not eligible for a licence,” reads Lykkemark’s cease and desist letter from the LCLB. “Your customers must purchase and transport the liquor to the [event] themselves.”
Thornley says that mom-and-pop caterers will sometimes circumvent this law by applying for a licence under a personal name. “Yes, in some instances certain caterers are breaking the rule,” says Thornley. “We lose the business because somebody else is going to break the law.”
Whether it’s a wedding, corporate function or holiday party, Lykkemark says the liquor-serving onus currently falls on the wrong person. “It doesn’t make any sense because the liability for these events is on the client,” she explains. “And yet we’re actually pouring the liquor.”
