Local brewery says it is at a ‘disadvantage’ in City of Kitchener beer bid

A local brewery says the bidding process by the City of Kitchener for its primary beer supplier is not fair to smaller breweries.

Speaking on The Mike Farwell Show on Monday, Graham Spence, the owner of Block 3 in St. Jacobs, said the bidding process is creating an “unfair advantage” for larger breweries, like Molson Coors.

He said to be considered, a bidder must put up a minimum of $14,900 as a sponsorship for the Kitchener Rangers, which some breweries cannot afford.

“We know that’s not the actual number and it’s much higher,” Spence said. He notes at other facilities it can be as high as six figures.

“It’s creating an unfair advantage for them [larger breweries].”

The bid opened earlier this month, with the winning bid becoming the provider for some of the city’s local sports venues, including the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, Rockway and Doon Valley golf courses, the Sportsworld Arena and the Activa Sportsplex for at least the next three years.

Graham said Block 3 brewery is confident that they can provide the volume of beer that would be needed.

“In order for us to continue to thrive, we need to be able to get access to some of these opportunities that currently don’t exist,” he said.

The bid is currently open until September 5.

In a statement to 570 NewsRadio, the City of Kitchener outlined further details on their beer bidding process, as they maintain that the city has followed a “public and transparent” request for proposal (RFP) process for the Preferred Beer Sponsorship program since 2002.

“The City has two opportunities for beer provision at The Aud and City golf courses. The ‘Preferred Beer Sponsorship Agreement’ is aimed at major beer manufacturers and the ‘Preferred Non-Premier Brewery Agreement’ is geared toward local breweries.”

“The RFP for the preferred non-premier brewery is expected to be issued again in September 2024.”