SAQ announces third price hike in a year

The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) announced on Monday that it will be making price adjustments on nearly 2,000 of its products next Sunday.

An average price increase of 2.4 per cent will apply to 1,458 products available at all times on the shelves of its branches and on its transactional site, except for a hundred or so that will only be increased on Jan. 29 because they are currently on promotion.

An average decrease of 1.3 per cent will be applied to 539 products. The price of 1,389 other products will remain stable.

This is the third price adjustment in just under a year. At the beginning of November 2021, the SAQ announced an average price increase of 1.66 per cent on 1,332 products, while in mid-May, it raised prices by an average of 3.7 per cent on 2,550 products.

In a press release published on Monday, the president and CEO of the SAQ, Catherine Dagenais, maintains that the inflation of the last few months also affects wines and spirits. She points out that the demands of the SAQ's suppliers are on the rise, notably because of the labour shortage and the increase in the price of materials related to bottling, but that its teams dedicated to supply management have been able to negotiate at a fair price.

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The SAQ adds that the increase in maritime and land transport costs persists.

On the other hand, the gradual depreciation of the value of the euro in recent months has caused the exchange rate for all products traded in this currency to be revalued downwards, to the benefit of SAQ customers.

Dagenais said the new price adjustments reflect both the reality of the markets and the desire to preserve an exceptional product offer at a fair and competitive price.

In June, the Société des alcools du Québec posted fourth-quarter net income of $232.6 million, up 12.9% from $206 million for the same period last year. Revenues were up 6.7 per cent.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 31, 2022