After reading Sachin Phadkar’s blog, “BYOB to restaurants – who does it benefit?”; I began to ponder whether this new law that allowed guests to bring their own bottles of wine would hurt or help the restaurant industry.  I do not completely agree with Sachin’s prediction of the effects that the new BYOW law will have on the restaurant industry; although I do agree with Sachin that restaurants do not fall into one homogeneous group.

I strongly believe that the implication of the BYOW law will help the restaurant industry as a whole.  Inexpensive restaurants that target the middle-class will be able to compete with the more high end restaurants throughout British Columbia.  People with average incomes are going to be more willing to go out for dinner if they can bring their own bottle of wine and pay a small corkage fee (determined  by the restaurant); as opposed to paying for a ridiculously overpriced bottle of wine.

In contrast, Sachin seems to think that the BYOW law will hurt fine dining restaurants as they would lose the revenue from alcohol, a big player in the fine dining experience.  Well this is not exactly true.  For restaurants that generate a large percentage of their revenue from alcohol, Rich Coleman, the Minister Responsible for Housing and in charge of liquor control, has made it clear that BYOW is optional and restaurants will be able to choose if they want to participate.  With that key factor in mind, there is no denying that the new BYOW law will give “industry the needed flexibility to get people out and din[ing] more” (Tostenson).