Ottawa craft brewers already feeling pinch thanks to American tariffs

Incoming American tariffs on aluminum could soon create big problems for local craft breweries.

Owner of the Kichesippi Beer Company Paul Meek told 1310 NEWS' The Rick Gibbons Show, his can suppliers aren't guaranteeing him they can deliver on future orders, and can't promise that costs will not have gone up by the time their inventory allows for a shipment to be made.

“We call our supplier and say, 'Hey, looking forward to getting those cans mid-August,' and they're like, 'Yeah, that's not coming and we don't know when it's coming.' I say, 'Look, we're short,' and they literally don't have an answer for me,” explained Meek.

Listen to the full conversation with Paul Meek:

The Kichesippi owner said he makes can orders by 160,000 at a time, and his company has some inventory of their own, but it's the uncertainty of what's to come that is a bit nerve racking.

Unfortunately for Meek, his company's purchasing power will never be able top stack up with that of a multi-national corporation.

“The tariffs are coming,” he continued. “Two, three cents a can is a big hit for me, but [multi-national brewers] have gone in and said, 'We want to load up. I'm going to take all these cans, and take them before things go up maybe two, three or four cents a can,' and it's really sucked out the inventory.”

Meek said switching to putting their beer in bottles would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, as it would require entirely different machinery than he currently has.

Depending on when he and his fellow craft brewers can get new cans, and for what price, Meek added that there is a chance prices may go up for consumers.