ABLE BC Update: Supply Chain and Transportation Challenges
Dear ABLE BC members and industry colleagues,
Since last week’s devastating floods and mudslides, ABLE BC has been in regular contact with the LDB, BDL, government, and our distribution partners. We have been working hard to get clarity on how to protect the integrity of the supply chain in the coming weeks amid this serious disruption in transportation between the Interior and Lower Mainland.
On Friday, the LDB provided us with the following update:
The BC Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) would like to reassure wholesale customers that distribution centres in the Lower Mainland and the Interior have regular inventory levels to supply customers in their regions and we are currently rerouting product in the supply chain as necessary to fulfill customer orders.
We appreciate your patience that there will be continued service delays but it is critical that we continue to work together by only purchasing items that you need.
The Delta Distribution Centre has regular inventory levels and will continue to service customers in the region with current available stocked product, non-stocked product and bottle picks.
Kamloops Distribution Centre has regular inventory levels and will continue to service customers in the region with current stocked product subject to availability. The list of KDC stocked SKUs is posted on the LDB Wholesale Website but please review the on-hand availability at time of order.
Products that are not included in the above KDC inventory list are normally fulfilled at the Delta Distribution Centre (DDC) and will not be picked and shipped until transportation routes are reopened. Please note that these temporarily unavailable products include non-stocked wholesale product and single bottle picks and all will be cancelled from your order after you receive your order submission report.
LDB Wholesale Operations has been and will continue to make concerted efforts to work with vendors and freight carriers to maintain regular service levels and to ensure supply as the transportation routes open.
In an attempt to mitigate the impacts to customers as a result of transportation disruptions, the LDB is exploring options with vendors and freight carriers to transfer product and reroute shipments if and when possible. We are also working with the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC) to transfer some product from AGLC to KDC.
We are also working closely with industry and would like to remind customers that many of our province’s liquor producers are also available to direct deliver product as noted below:
Search brewers by area
Download an app to search for breweries near you
Search distillers by area
New Wave Wine Society (representing cideries, fruit, and mead wine)
List of wineries (broken down by region)
Download the Wines of BC Explorer app
We appreciate your patience and will share more information as it is made available. Please visit the LDB Wholesale Operations website for the latest updates and contact information.
New Restrictions in Response to Flooding Crisis
On Friday, using the powers of the Emergency Program Act, Minister Farnworth announced two new orders that were immediately put in place:
Fuel Restrictions: brings in a temporary order to ensure fuel remains available for essential vehicles in affected areas of the province.
This order, effective immediately, until December 1, 2021, applies to all fuel suppliers in the Lower Mainland-to-Hope region, the Sea-to-Sky region, Sunshine Coast, the Gulf Islands and Vancouver Island.
Under this order, essential vehicles will have unrestricted access to fuel as required, using predominately commercial trucking gas stations (cardlock gas stations). A full list of these essential vehicles is available in the backgrounder.
Non-essential vehicles, including the general public, will still have access to fuel available through retail gas stations. People will be limited to 30 litres per trip to the gas station.
The Province will be working with gas retailers and distributors to implement this order to make sure people are not exceeding their allotted limit per trip. As part of this order, gas retailers will be required to ensure remaining gasoline reserves last until December 1, 2021. Anyone who is abusive, threatening or belligerent to gas station workers can be subject to a fine under the order.
Under the order, retail gas stations and wholesale distributors will be prohibited from profit-margin price gouging and people will be prohibited from buying gas for the purpose of reselling it.
The order does not affect natural gas or heating oil used to heat homes.
Highway Travel Restrictions: prohibits non-essential travel along severely affected highways:
Highway 99: from the junction of Highway 99 and Lillooet River Road to the BC Hydro Seton Lake Campsite access in Lillooet. Only passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles up to 14,500 kilograms will be permitted.
Highway 3: from the junction of Highway 5 and Highway 3 in Hope to the west entrance to Princeton from Highway 3.
Highway 7: from the junction of Highway 7 and Highway 9 in Agassiz to the junction of Highway 7 and Highway 1 in Hope.
For more information, please click here.
Financial Assistance Available for People Affected by Flooding
Disaster Financial Assistance (DFA) is now available for eligible British Columbians in southwest, central and southeast areas of the province and Vancouver Island who were affected by flooding and landslides from November 14-16, 2021.
This assistance includes all Indigenous communities, electoral areas and municipalities within the geographic boundaries of these areas.
DFA is available to homeowners, residential tenants, business owners, local governments, Indigenous communities, farmers and charitable organizations that were unable to obtain insurance to cover disaster-related losses. By regulation, DFA is unable to compensate for losses for which insurance was reasonably and readily available. DFA will assess each application using its legislative criteria in a fair and consistent way.
Applications for the DFA event must be submitted to Emergency Management BC (EMBC) by February 12, 2022.
British Columbians can access the DFA application online: http://www.gov.bc.ca/disasterfinancialassistance
Read more.
Business Supports: Supports for businesses impacted by disasters are available from the federal and provincial governments, community organizations and the private sector.
Emergency Resources and Guidance for BC Tourism Businesses
The Emergency Preparedness page on Destination BC’s corporate website is a repository of official, reputable sources of information that we use to prepare and respond to emergencies.
Destination BC’s Know Before You Go page on their consumer trip-planning website HelloBC.com also includes key information resources for travellers and tourism businesses.
The Emergency Preparedness page also includes information from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirming that, given the current situation in BC, travellers who must transit through the United States to get to their residence in Canada are exempt from the COVID-19 pre-arrival test, the test in Canada, and quarantine requirements.
Visit the Emergency Preparedness page for more information on pre-existing exemptions which can be applied to travellers in certain situations.
As a tourism partner and/or tourism business owner, here’s what Destination BC suggests you can do:
Share these resources with your staff and follow key social media accounts for the latest news. You can find them listed on Destination BC’s Emergency Preparedness page.
Communicate with fellow businesses and neighbours in your community, share official information with them, and offer assistance if you can. Look after your community and take care of your neighbours.
Help your guests:
If your business is located in an impacted area, provide your current customers and future reservations with regular updates, by directing them to official information sources. Keep in mind that visitors are not often aware that conditions in BC can change rapidly, so we need to encourage them to check the latest, on-the-ground information before and during their trip so they can make informed travel decisions.
If your business is not impacted directly, help your current guests plan the rest of their trip to areas that are safe and open for business (your local visitor centre has a wealth of information on places to stay and things to do). Also, be proactive with future reservations – let your customers know it’s business as usual and you are looking forward to hosting them. BC is a very large province and sometimes our out-of-province guests (or even our own residents) don’t consider the vast geography of our province.
Have a plan: use the PreparedBC: Tourism Resources to prepare for emergencies and to identify potential hazards.
Individuals can also help by volunteering. Emergency Support Services is a provincial program for local authorities and Indigenous governments to deliver services to the public in an emergency. They often depend on volunteers to coordinate these services for people forced from their homes because of an emergency.
Learn more by visiting the Province’s Emergency Support Services (ESS) Volunteer page.