Hawaii rejects DTC shipping bill
The Hawaii Senate Judiciary Committee has ruled against a bill that would allow direct-to-consumer (DTC) shipping for spirits.
Direct-to-consumer shipping continues to be a battleground issue within the spirits industry as states fall on either side of the debate on whether to allow consumers to order spirits directly to their homes, a practice more common in wine. Citing risks of underage access and drunk driving, the Hawaii State Senate has rejected HB 108, a bill proposing DTC spirits shipping.
The craft spirits industry has latched onto DTC as a means for survival, calling for market modernisation as smaller brands struggle to reach consumers beyond their home state. In August of last year, governor Kathy Hochul made New York the ninth state and district to pass DTC legislation.
However, the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) have vehemently opposed DTC legislation, saying at the time that the laws in New York “defied common sense”. WSWA celebrates the decision in Hawaii.
“Expanding DTC spirits shipping may sound like a modernisation effort, but in reality, it weakens enforcement, facilitates underage access, and strips states of their ability to regulate a socially sensitive product,” WSWA executive vice-president, government affairs Dawson Hobbs said. “HB 108’s failure reaffirms what we’ve seen across the country – when regulators take a hard look at the risks, they reject DTC expansion in the interest of public health and safety.”
The WSWA remains in support of the regulated three-tier system, which ensures for tax collection and age verification, while the American Craft Spirits Association (ACSA) continues to lobby for market modernisation, pointing to a current distribution model that fails to serve small and craft producers. Regulation will continue to be decided on a state-by-state basis, with the New York Distillers Guild launching a Trails app in response to their state’s new shipping laws.
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