De-alcoholized Spirits and What You Need to Know

When we hear the term non-alcoholic or de-alcoholized, many of us simply think of beer but as the category of de-alcoholized beverages grows in popularity, we’re seeing more and more de-alcoholized beverage options such as ciders, wine, mocktails and even spirits. With their rise in popularity, it’s important for producers and distributors in British Columbia to ensure these products are properly registered with the correct stewardship organization, which in this case would be Encorp Pacific (Canada) better known as Return-It.

• Why do I have to register de-alcoholized spirits: all “ready-to-drink” beverages need to be registered under an approved stewardship plan to be sold in B.C. While some beverages may say they contain 0.5% alcohol, this is still considered de-alcoholized and falls under the Encorp program.

• What am I responsible for: as a producer, you are responsible for ensuring all your registered beverage containers are kept up-to-date in the Encorp database and providing monthly sales reporting to Encorp.

• What else should I know: many alcohol producers may not be familiar with registering their containers in B.C. since BRCCC or BCLDB has handled this requirement in the past. However, for de-alcoholized and all other non-alcoholic beverages, producers are responsible for registering their own beverage containers with Encorp in order to be sold in B.C. and to be in compliance with the B.C. Recycling Regulation.

For assistance or detailed information on the registration processes and requirements, please contact the Return-It Brand Registry team at brandregistry@returnit.ca.