A local distillery has started to feel the pinch amid the ongoing Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO) strike.
The strike began on Jul. 5 when over 9,000 workers walked off the job to back contract demands, marking the first strike in the history of the LCBO.
Danielle Moldovan is the director of marketing and new business at Wolfhead Distillery and says their retail store has been very busy.
"A lot of new faces coming through. A lot of whisky and vodka being purchased which is usually not the case here. We're really known for our flavoured spirits, so that's something new for us. What's been a challenge is we have restaurants reaching out to us now in hauls that are in need of whisky and vodka, and we're trying to make sure that we can still sell to our regular restaurants that have been ordering from us, plus any new ones."
She says for the first time they've had to limit the amount of product that can be purchased to one bottle per customer.
Moldovan says it takes the company eight days to produce a batch of 600 bottles of vodka.
"We just bottled another batch [Tuesday], so we should be able to meet the needs for people that just need plain vodka. With regards to whisky, it takes us three weeks once we chip it. So right now, we have to limit the bottles to one per person, but come the beginning of August, we'll be fully ramped up again."
Wolfhead sells their product in LCBO stores across the province and she says the closure has impacted the company with sales down overall.
"We looked at last year at the LCBO for the week, and looked at what we lost by not having the LCBO open and we're actually down 10 per cent in bottle sales. So although it's so busy here at the distillery, it's still not at the same levels if we had the LCBO open."
Since the strike began, the LCBO has been offering free home delivery through online orders, however Moldovan says Wolfhead products are sold out and they are unable to get their product to LCBO warehouses.
Earlier this week, the LCBO walked back plans to open 32 stores three days a week with limited hours for in-store shopping.
The province also announced it was speeding up its expansion of sales of ready-to-drink cocktails.