Contract-brewed beer brand

Bars, restaurants, shops and bottle stores that stock your beer, and direct customers where your province allows direct sales.

You sell kegs and cans at wholesale or retail prices, minus brewing fees, ingredients, packaging and duty. Margins are thinner than owning a brewery, but startup costs are far lower.

• Recipe development and tasting
• Branding and design
• Sales and relationship building
• Planning production and cash flow

• Not every province treats contract or brand-owner arrangements the same way, check with your provincial regulator before committing
• Excise duty and licensing responsibilities between you and the host brewery, confirm with the CRA and in writing
• Label rules for alcohol, including bilingual requirements in some cases (and French-language rules in Quebec), check before printing
• Product liability and commercial general liability insurance, and who is covered under the host's policy
• Dependence on the host's schedule and quality control, put terms in a written agreement
• Cash tied up in a first batch of cans or kegs that has to sell

Startup costs are typically estimated at around $15,000 to $75,000, depending on your branding, the size of your first batch of cans or kegs, and the terms agreed with the host brewery. You avoid buying brewing equipment.

Monthly revenue is typically estimated at around $3,000 to $15,000, depending on how many bars, restaurants and shops stock your beer and how much you sell directly where allowed. These figures are estimates, not guarantees.

Check with your provincial regulator, as contract or brand-owner arrangements are not treated the same everywhere. Confirm excise duty and licensing responsibilities with the CRA and the host brewery in writing, and check alcohol label rules, including bilingual and Quebec French-language requirements.