Liquor shortage irks Yukon bars, vendors

Growing gaps in the supply chain of liquor to the Yukonis leaving some sellers with a bad taste in their mouth.

Since the spring, many bars and off-sale vendors sayorders coming into the territory have been less consistent. They, along with themain government stores, have not beenreceiving everything on their list.

"For some reason or another I've been consistently shorted my products that I order," saysKen Achtymichuk, who sells off-sales from his store, Heather's Snack Haven, in Porter Creek.

He recently ordered 60 cases of beer and only received three.

"You try to adapt to it, but it really ticked me off," Achtymichuk says."I'm always getting shortedBudweiser,Kokanee, Canadian, the main staples that we sell out of here."

He says it's bad for business and it's only getting worse.

The Yukon Government is well aware of the problem.

Jorn Meier, director of purchasing and distribution for the Yukon Liquor Corporation, which distributes liquor in the territory, says the supply chain is very long and it's unclear why the shortages are happening.

"We would like to be able to provide product when our clients want it, and this is not acceptable,"Meier says."Over the last few months, we received more and more orders that are incomplete."

He says the corporation is trying to improve how it tracks products and identifies shortages and it's also working on finding new suppliers.

"We have just recently managed to put an agreement in place with Alberta, to use that as an alternative supply route if product is shorted to us."