When, upon the expiry of a storage agreement, the SAQ takes possession of sellable private import (PI) products, the products will no longer be destroyed.
 
The SAQ is announcing a change in its processes to avoid destroying PI products it takes possession of when the storage agreements end the products remain sellable.
 
Specifically, the SAQ is adding a new way to clear out these products:

  • By this summer season, sellable PI products that the SAQ has taken possession of will be sold at a discount in one or another of the 10 SAQ Dépôt stores across Quebec.
  • Our teams are currently working out the details of how the products will be received and sold at a discount in these stores.
  • Until this measure is effective, no IP product suitable for merchandising will be destroyed.

Note that several sellable PI products taken possession of when their storage agreements ended have already been cleared out in various ways, notably through donation and sponsorship agreements for causes and events the SAQ supports or, when the quantities involved are small, through charity sales to our employees, with the proceeds going to an SAQ-supported cause.
 
PI products deemed unsellable or undrinkable will continue to be destroyed while their contents and raw materials (glass, cardboard, etc.) will be recovered and converted in accordance with the industry’s best practices.
 
Finally, as for the products in its network (branches and SAQ.COM), there are already ways to sell them when they are suitable for marketing.