B.C.’s liquor regulator has ordered a Langley pub to pay a $7,000 fine after it was accused of accepting thousands of dollars to promote a specific brand of beer in 2024 and 2025.
According to a recent ruling by the Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch (LCRB), the Rendezvous Pub in Langley City allegedly signed a customer promotion agreement (CPA) with an unnamed beer company for $46,405.
Under the Liquor Control Act, there are strict rules on how alcohol manufacturers can work with local bars and pubs to promote their products. It’s against the regulations for beer, wine, and spirits makers to pay bars for extra promotion or to primarily carry their products.
“Consumers do not have a full and fair selection of products and smaller independent producers are disproportionately harmed as they cannot match the inducement payments needed to secure shelf or tap access,” said the decision, written by the LCRB’s Paul Devine. “As a result, consumers encounter a market shaped not by preference but by undisclosed financial arrangements.”
The Rendezvous Pub’s representatives denied that they had received any illegitimate funding from the beer maker, or that most or all of their taps had been dedicated to one company’s products.
The investigators for the liquor branch said the key evidence came from the beer company itself, during a previous investigation. Investigators say the beer maker turned over a signed promotion agreement between the manufacturer and the pub, as well as financial records showing the extent of the financial transfers. As part of the deal, the pub was allegedly to have all its taps provide only beer from the company.
After the investigation began, the Rendezvous Pub turned over some financial records, showing three quarterly payments in 2024 and 2025 of $2,500 from the beer company. The pub also appears to have accepted $1,993 in glassware from the beer company.
The pub defended itself, arguing that there was no evidence that it received the full $46,405 in payment, and that the signature on the agreement with the beer maker didn’t match that of the person who supposedly signed it on behalf of the Rendezvous.
Devine found that there was no proof in Rendezvous bank records of receiving the full amount, but that it did appear that at least three of the $2,500 payments, plus the glassware, had been received. He also noted that evidence showed that not all the taps at the Rendezvous were dedicated to one brand.
However, the pub leaned heavily towards the beer maker’s products on its menu. According to Devine’s decision, of the 29 drinks on the pub’s menu, 16 were made by the beer maker in question.
“This appears to provide a significant advantage to the manufacturer when compared to other producers,” Devine wrote.
“In sum, the evidence shows that the licensee [Rendezvous Pub] accepted financial inducements from the manufacturer for the purpose of furthering the sale of their products,” he concluded.
The beer maker has already been penalized, following an investigation that found it had given financial inducements to multiple bars or pubs to promote their products.
The ruling noted this was the first time this local pub owner has been penalized under liquor regulations.
The Langley Advance Times has reached out to the Rendezvous Pub, and a representative declined to comment.