I used to be all for changing state laws which prohibited the sales of liquor, wine, and beer in supermarkets. I’ve even given money to an organization that was advocating ‘strong beer’ and wine sales in supermarkets here in Oklahoma. Now, I’m not so sure. I’ve seen campaigns in 2 states (NY and CO) to vote “No” on changing such laws. In both cases, small brewers, wine makers, and liquor stores supported the campaign on the grounds that it would hurt their businesses.
The liquor store owners’ position is easy to understand. They currently enjoy a sort-of monopoly and don’t want to be undercut by the huge purchasing power of national chains. What about the small producers, though? Surely it’s better to have your product readily available (albeit at a somewhat lower profit margin) in stores where darn near everybody shops, than to only have it in liquor stores, which some people never enter.
The major breweries have an enormous advantage in that they can afford to produce ‘low point’ beer for big chains and the average consumer will gladly buy it, if only to avoid the annoyance of making a stop at a liquor store. So, what’s the deal? How does the little company benefit by not having its product on the shelf next to Bud, Miller, and Coors down at the Wal-Mart?
Since a liquor stores are speciality outlets, they tend to carry a lot more variety in terms of brands. If liquor were available in grocery stores, my guess is that they wouldn’t bother to carry the little brands. They like to deal in volume and don’t like to deal with independent distributors as much.
Here in California, we have alcohol sales in supermarkets (and have had them for more than 30 years), as well as regular liquor stores. I haven’t seen any evidence that small producers are suffering. Some giant supermarkets have quite a large selection of alcoholic products available, same as they have of every other kind of food product.
If a grocery store wants to sell me Budweiser, and I want to buy it there, that should settle the matter. It shouldn’t be the business of the state to forbid the transaction for the convenience of a third party (an alternative liquor distributor).
Exactly. Supermarkets need volume, so what you’ll see is Gallo, Taylor, Corbett Canyon, Mondavi – the big wine conglomerates. While they certainly make good wine, it’s very unlikely you’d see any small vineyard wines except maybe near the wineries.
And if the wine in supermarkets causes liquor stores to fail, there will be fewer places selling the small winery product.
I beg to disagree. I grew up in Illinois and lived there until 2005, when I moved to NY. In IL, beer, wine and hard liquor are all available at grocery stores and it is not uncommon to see an entire row of alcohol, plus beer coolers. I was readily able to find microbrews and smaller winery products in the large supermarket in my town of ~110K. Plus, there were numerous liquor stores around and they didn’t seem to be hurting for business in any part of the state I visited.
Not having wine at the supermarket means at minimum, an extra stop for me in NY. Our local supermarket does carry a number of regional beers, at least, which is nice, but in cold weather I like a nice glass of wine and working FT and living in a town where both liquor stores close at 7 is not exactly conducive to it. I’d be a lot more likely to buy wine if I could toss a bottle in with the groceries, as I did in IL. Instead, I drink more beer.
I live in Arizona which also allows alcohol sales at supermarkets. I’m sure are some brands that aren’t sold in supermarkets here. But, they are going to be very specialized.
I had several Christmas parties this year and bought quite a lot of alcohol from various producers.
I strongly support being able to buy alcohol in the supermarket.
In my neighborhood in Seattle, one of the best wine selections – producers small and large – is at a large supermarket (QFC in Broadway Market). But there’s a small wine shop just a few blocks away that manages to stay in business, mainly by focusing on European wines rather than Washington and California. There are several other supermarkets, liquor/wine joints, and convenience stores all selling wine of varying quality. The big tent doesn’t seem to have hurt anyone.
We’re going to need more information. What is a “small brewer”? What is a “wine maker”?
If “small brewer” were to mean brew-pub then the explanation would be pretty evident. If micro brews and beers similar in style to your typical brew-pub fare became more widely available then it would reduce the number of people who would seek out those establishments. If you can buy a 6-pack of Sierra Nevada at the Wal-Mart why would you go to Big Johns Brew Pub for a mediocre IPA?
The same applies to local vineyards.
I’m guessing that the reporting of the campaigns in those states was sloppy and careless, as it usually is, and that they didn’t take the time to explain who was on each side. I’m certain that many brewers who the layman would consider “small” are not really very small and are in favor of the expanded distribution. The “small” brewers who would oppose such a change would be those who don’t have distribution agreements with wholesalers who would be able to block them out of the big box stores.
In states without any regulations on this stuff you can find “micro brews” in the big stores. However, most people have a poor definition of a “micro brew”. Sam Adams, Sierra Nevada, Goose Island, Anchor Steam, Bells, New Belgium, Red Hook, Brooklyn Breweries etc. are not small brewers at all. They have partnerships with regional wholesalers and would benefit from getting into the big stores just as much as BudMillerCoors. It’s the guys you’ve never heard of that self-distribute or don’t distribute off-premise at all who would oppose that type of legislation.
My experience with wine in supermarkets is that no matter how popular your wine is, it’s still only going to get at most 3 bottles across in the aisle so any decent supermarket has quite a range of wines. Even dinky little corner stores have at least 30 - 40 varieties.
I would like to note that the hard liquor selection at the average California supermarket kicks Washington’s state run liquor store’s ass all over the street.
Then there is the wonderfulness that is Bevmo. Puts the supermarkets and average liquor store to shame.
That’s true of pretty much every consumer product. Why should alcohol be treated any differently? At least most of y’all actually can actually choose which liquor store you shop at; here in PA we only have one state-run chain.
I suspect you are right in that people are bending the definition of small. I don’t have enough information on the NY campaign, which would apply only to wine. I saw some posters which claimed that small wineries were against it, but nothing solid. In CO, again, the posters claim ‘small local’ brewers oppose supermarket sales. Off the top of my head, Left Hand brewing is definitely on the record as being against, but I don’t know if they count as small.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but it sounds like you’re saying that to be sold in a supermarket in OK the beer has to be “low point” (i.e. less alcohol) but it can be full alcohol if sold in a liquor store? If that’s the case, then I can understand why the small brewers don’t want to have to produce a whole separate line of weak beers in order to sell in the supermarkets. Seems to me it’s the “low-point” beer law that needs to be changed.
My local Safeway hs a humongous wine selection - a FULL grocery store aisle, both sides of the aisle. Probably 150 feet of shelf space, about 6 feet tall. Plus a good liquor selection, and a pretty good beer selection.
You’re missing a key step in alcohol sales - Thethree tier systemis what could (and does) cause small producers to get left behind.
In the US, a producer must sell to a distributor, who must sell to a retailer, who then sells to the consumer, with few exceptions. Consolidation among producers and distributors leaves the small guys left to fend for themselves, and it can be hard for them to find national distribution.
The solution is not to prevent alcohol sales in supermarket chains, that seems almost like a ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’ type of fix. The answer is to fix or do away with the three tier system.
You are correct about the law and the need to change it. As it stands in OK, there is nothing but low-point versions of mega-brew in the supermarket. Also, liquor stores are forbidden to sell ice, cups, corkscrews, or refrigerated beer. My point was that I imagined that allowing ‘strong beer’ (regular beer) sales in supermarkets would level the playing field for the smaller producers by giving them new retail outlets for their existing products. Under the current system, you are correct, it is simply not feasible for them to make a separate low-point beer.
Psycat90: Nice article, that fills in a lot of gaps.
This is very true. just because we sell liquor in supermarkets doesn’t mean we only sell it supermarkets. In a lot places there are liquor stores on put-near every corner. Some are dives, some cater to the higher-end and ‘speccialty’ tastes. If a small producer can’t sell with *so many *outlets to choose from…