Overview: The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has proposed operational adjustments to address rising demand for ready-to-drink cocktails, aiming to reduce delivery costs and access barriers for distributors. Industry stakeholders note that state facilities currently lack the infrastructure required for high-volume orders of spirits-based RTDs.
The Full Story
For Bill Jackson, owner of Wexford Beer, an independent beer distributor north of Pittsburgh, ordering ready-to-drink cocktails from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board can turn a routine delivery into a half-day’s work. Orders must be loaded one case at a time because state facilities lack forklifts and do not palletize orders, requiring manual loading of individual cases. When Jackson orders beer, hard seltzers and flavored malt beverages from a private wholesaler, a truck pulls up to his loading dock, drops off a pallet by forklift, and a Wexford employee moves the product straight into the store without fuss.
The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board has proposed changes to ease access and delivery costs for distributors. Elizabeth Brassell, the PLCB’s director of policy and communications, attributed the absence of a forklift at state facilities to a temporary interruption in forklift service related to an equipment malfunction that will be resolved as soon as the contractor can remediate. Direct delivery from state requires a minimum order of 20 cases with a $75 delivery fee, whereas private wholesalers allow pallet delivery via forklift without fuss.
The underlying problem is that these facilities were built for a different kind of customer: restaurants buying a few cases of wine or several bottles of liquor, not retailers ordering hundreds of cases of canned cocktails. Jackson’s experience reflects a broader challenge for Pennsylvania’s alcohol industry. Ready-to-drink cocktails — canned beverages such as hard teas, spiked lemonades and vodka cocktails — are booming. But retailers and private distributors say the state’s wholesale system hasn’t kept pace.
The PLCB is promising changes, including lower delivery minimums and free delivery on larger orders. The agency announced last week that, beginning in early 2027, it would lower the minimum order for direct delivery from 20 cases to 15. Orders of 15 to 39 cases will carry a $75 delivery fee; orders of 40 cases or more will qualify for free delivery. The PLCB has yet to announce an exact effective date.
Brand & Industry History
A 2024 state law, Act 86, opened the spirits-based RTD market to beer distributors and other retailers, expanding the number of outlets where canned cocktails could be sold. But it left the PLCB in control of the primary wholesale channel, largely shutting traditional private wholesalers out of supplying licensed retailers. Beer distributors and importing distributors can obtain permits to sell spirits-based RTDs directly to consumers, but not to other licensed businesses.
The arrangement also gives the state control over which out-of-state products reach Pennsylvania shelves. Spirits-based RTDs, wine and spirits made outside Pennsylvania generally must enter the state through the PLCB, meaning consumers might have fewer choices than shoppers elsewhere in the country. Private wholesalers can supply retailers with beer, hard seltzers and flavored malt beverages through established distribution networks, but they cannot use those same networks to deliver spirits-based canned cocktails.
What This Means
The dispute is part of a larger shake-up in Pennsylvania’s alcohol market. The PLCB relies on third-party logistics contractors, including FedEx Supply Chain in western Pennsylvania, to deliver bulk orders through its Licensee Delivery Program. Retailers can also pick up orders at designated state locations. Frank B. Fuhrer III, CEO of Frank B. Fuhrer Wholesale Co., argues that the PLCB is an unnecessary middleman in the spirits-based RTD market.
Fuhrer says the PLCB lacks the warehouse capacity, delivery infrastructure and sales force that established wholesalers bring to the market. The state’s facilities present another challenge. The PLCB’s wholesale operation was built largely around restaurants and taverns buying relatively small quantities of wine and spirits. Now it must accommodate orders of 300, 400 or even 500 cases of canned cocktails.
The law also created an exception for qualifying Pennsylvania manufacturers, allowing them to bypass the state’s wholesale system and sell directly to licensed retailers. That provision opened the door for companies such as Philadelphia-based Stateside Brands. But the exemption came with strings attached. In June, the PLCB added all Stateside products, in every package configuration, to its portfolio. The move allowed the company to continue selling directly to beer distributors and other retailers but imposed a pricing restriction.
Consumer Takeaway
Before the PLCB added Stateside products to its portfolio, distributors buying pallets directly from the company qualified for volume discounts, bringing the price of Super Lyte down to as little as $47.99 per case. The state’s wholesale price is now $53.99. Distributors must buy the products from the PLCB, earning a 10% discount below the state’s retail prices. Another popular canned cocktail brand is entering the state’s system. This week, the PLCB told licensed retailers it was adding Sun Cruiser, a line of noncarbonated vodka iced teas and lemonades made by The Boston Beer Company, to its Fine Wine & Good Spirits portfolio.
Source: Read the original article
