 Come September, not only will Toby not be around, Boréale might not be back at McGill either. [Click to enlarge]
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The bidding war for the Students' Society's next beer contract has begun, with seven breweries expressing interest in supplying beer for campus events.
Boréale, Molson, Labatt's, Sleeman's, McAuslan, Unibroue, and Bierbrier have all submitted bids to SSMU.
The new contract will have a three-year term, and the successful bidder will supply more than 400 kegs and 4,000 cases of beer each year. That gives the contract a total value of roughly $400,000, along with the exclusive rights to provide beer for events like Frosh, SnoAP, and Four Floors.
According to SSMU Vice-President Internal Julia Webster, exclusivity is a factor in the negotiations. During Molson's time as SSMU's beer supplier, only their products were served on campus. However, Boréale's current contract only grants them exclusivity for SSMU's outdoor events. For example, beers from McAuslan are still available at Gert's.
Promotional funding and materials are also factors in the choice of brewery. Along with offers of clothing and paraphernalia, SSMU asked the beer suppliers to include proposals for helping SSMU secure alcohol permits and host events.
"Picking a company is really about balance," Webster said. "The larger companies have a lot of money that they can spend on promotions … whereas the smaller companies may not have all those resources, but may be really good with on-campus support."
SSMU's new contract may not be the only change to the campus beer supply. Although the Engineering Undergraduate Society signed on to SSMU's beer contract and used its outdoor liquor licenses in recent years, the engineers plan to negotiate their own beer contract this year. That means that a different brewery could be supplying the beer for next year's Blues Pubs and Open Air Pub.
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