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LCBO Launches Mini Self-Service Kiosks
© Michael Vaughan 2006
National Post Weekly Wine & Spirits Columnist
Saturday, April 1, 2006

Moving on to a major announcement. The LCBO has finally come up with a proposal on how to better service all those after-hour requests when its 600 stores are closed. It is apparently planning to launch convenient mini self-service kiosks. They will initially be strategically located in and around Toronto, including a trial period in Price Chopper stores, which do not have any retail Ontario wine affiliations. LCBO executives are very excited, as this will dramatically reduce labour costs associated with traditional sales. Also, as bank and/or credit cards will be required, concerns that anyone under the legal drinking age will get access to the kiosks are minimal, especially the kiosks have been equipped to take a photo of each purchaser.

Credit for the mini kiosk concept is master marketer Dave Nichol, who apparently first saw the idea on a website. The kiosks will include the LCBO's top ten critter wines. Nichol had planned to launch "His Master's Choice" label, portraying his now-deceased dog, for a series of varietally-designated red and white wines. It was apparently rejected by the LCBO quality panel on the grounds of tastelessness. His newly created Doggone Rosé, however, has been approved and may be on the LCBO's shelves as soon as Father's Day.

When Doggone was submitted blind to Ontario's VQA panel for assessment, it got a big qualitative thumb's up. Unfortunately, this blend of 90% northern Mexican Zin remnants and 10% charcoal-filtered prime Ontario Niagara/Concord made it ineligible for the VQA designation - it can only be sold as a "Product of Canada". When polled earlier this week, some Wine Council of Ontario executives felt that this might well be the first of many steps in the right direction. Whether the revolutionary new 100% Canadian white called Poisson d'Avril Blanc developed by Nova Scotia Clearwater Seafood based on the slow temperature-controlled fermentation of processing byproducts will receive VQA exemption, however, remains to be seen. To overcome any consumer resistance, Clearwater has perfected the world's first "scratch and sniff" label so customers can get a preview of what is in the bottle. While testing it in the lab, I found the smell to be very clean and reminiscent of the sea, obviously a testimonial to the freshness of Clearwater byproducts.