Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Why Liquor Shortages Caused By The COVID-19 Pandemic Persist In Some States
NPR ^ | September 22, 2021 | Joe Hernandez

Posted on 09/24/2021 2:37:15 AM PDT by nickcarraway

A fair warning for your next trip to the liquor store: Several states across the U.S. are still experiencing booze shortages related to COVID-19, and it's unclear when supply will be able to meet demand.

Early in the pandemic, it was common to find libations low in stock after some liquor stores briefly closed amid statewide lockdowns and skyrocketing consumer demand for alcohol.

But continued reports of shortages from Vermont to New Jersey to Ohio persist more than a year later, and some states are rationing their liquor supply amid ongoing supply chain issues.

The Pennsylvania state board in charge of consumer liquor sales announced last week that it was limiting customers to two bottles of certain alcoholic beverages per day. The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board said the purchase limit on select items — including Hennessy Cognac, Buffalo Trace bourbon and Patrón tequila — will be in place for the "foreseeable future."

Liquor store customers in North Carolina are encountering "out of stock" signs instead of their favorite spirits, local TV station WTVD reported, amid an ongoing supply shortage there, too.

"I don't think anybody saw the kind of demand that we're seeing right now — particularly in those high-end and super-premium products — coming," said David Ozgo, chief economist of the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States.

Why liquor is running low in many states According to Ozgo and others, there are problems at nearly every step of the alcohol beverage supply chain.

Some producers are struggling to source glass bottles. The cost to import liquor from overseas has shot up because of price increases in international shipping. And actually delivering booze to bars, restaurants and other vendors has been hampered by a shortage of truck drivers.

"So all along the line, you almost have a compounding effect," Ozgo said, adding that some of these problems existed before the pandemic but grew worse over the past year.

Shawn Kelly, the spokesperson for the Pennsylvania liquor board, said some businesses are also having staffing issues.

But there is another big problem, one that occurs before any alcohol even touches the bottle.

Pandemic Stress, Boredom, Isolation Add Up To Sharp Rise In Drinking Many liquors simply take a long time to make. Producers have to grow or buy the ingredients, distill the spirit, then let it age. That means producers must anticipate demand years in advance. They can't simply turn on the spigot when demand rises.

"You can't go back five years and retroactively plant more agave," Ozgo said of the plant used to make tequila. "It doesn't work that way."

The distiller Buffalo Trace, whose bourbon is currently limited to two bottles per day for customers in Pennsylvania, is undertaking a $1.2 billion expansion but says it will still be "a few years" before it can fully meet consumer demand.

"Buffalo Trace recognizes this is not the news its fans want to hear for the next few years but making great whiskey does take time and the Distillery is not prepared to cut quality corners to increase short term supply," the company said in a press release.

What it means for drinkers The statewide policy change in Pennsylvania, which stems from the fact that its government controls the sale of spirits and operates all of the commonwealth's retail stores, affects millions of residents.

"[W]e believe the shortages are out of their control," Chuck Moran, executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverage and Tavern Association, said of the state board's decision.

The association represents small-business taverns and licensed restaurants. Moran says that while he understands there are supply chain issues, it's small businesses and customers who pay the price.

"Unfortunately, since taverns and licensed restaurants — as well as the general consumer who walks into a state liquor store — are at the tail end of the chain, it does have a negative impact."

In Virginia, another state where the government is in charge of alcohol sales, customers are only allowed to buy one bottle of certain liquors per day. Part of that is to make special edition booze available to more people, but state officials say it is also the result of skyrocketing demand during the pandemic.

Ozgo, with the Distilled Spirits Council, said that outside of so-called "control states," it would be up to individual liquor stores to determine whether to limit the sale of certain products.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: nc; pa; va
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

1 posted on 09/24/2021 2:37:15 AM PDT by nickcarraway
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Now, this is a crisis.


2 posted on 09/24/2021 2:39:51 AM PDT by ptsal (Vote R.E.D. >>>Remove Every Democrat ***)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ptsal

Can’t we go back to old-fashioned American wooden casks, and just sell it in the 40-gallon situation?


3 posted on 09/24/2021 2:48:43 AM PDT by pepsionice
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Did you read carefully? The two states mentioned, Pennsylvania and Virginia, are noted as state-controlled liquor sales.

Could the answer be Free Market / Capitalism?


4 posted on 09/24/2021 2:51:03 AM PDT by mason-dixon (As Mason said to Dixon, you have to draw the line somewhere.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mason-dixon

Free market distributors are more willing to innovate solutions to transportation and supply issues than state bureaucrats.


5 posted on 09/24/2021 3:03:33 AM PDT by SauronOfMordor (A Leftist can't enjoy life unless they are controlling, hurting, or destroying others)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Speaking of casks, might we find a ‘masonry cubbyhole’ that we might entice ‘intended someones’ to visit, with the promise of almontillado?


6 posted on 09/24/2021 3:16:05 AM PDT by Terry L Smith
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mason-dixon
I certainly think so

I'm waiting for some driver Patriots to chime in.

It may or may not be significant, but it IS a communications barrier ....

Many companies now do not allow CB radios in their company trucks (owner/operators can have anything they damned well please), and the CB IS after all ;

CITIZEN'S BAND

Part of the Communist Manifesto is to control communication(s)

7 posted on 09/24/2021 3:30:13 AM PDT by knarf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

I call bullshit on this story from NPR. I bought a case of Jack Daniels and Jim Beam when I was in California and it was on sale for about $10/bottle less than I can buy it here in Alabama or Tennessee. I didn’t see any empty liquor store shelves.


8 posted on 09/24/2021 4:14:43 AM PDT by CarmichaelPatriot (Recovering Kalifornian... Loving Alabama!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

So does that mean that after Buffalo Trace finishes its expansion, you will be able to buy E,H. Taylor and Weller at retail in the stores, instead of searching on the secondary market, “and saying 250 for a Taylor Rye, oh hell no.”


9 posted on 09/24/2021 4:27:00 AM PDT by TexasM1A
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: mason-dixon

Add North Carolina to the list.

Checked with a Friend in Texas where Liquor Stores are Privately Owned. He said all is fine there.

Might be time for some home brew...


10 posted on 09/24/2021 4:29:16 AM PDT by mabarker1 ((Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress !!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

A thread dedicated to shortages popping up around us might be enlightening. I don’t know how widespread it is but in my industry we’re just weeks away from being totally idled by shortages of the template material and glue we use. A big company like 3M can’t get raw material ( their words) to make the stuff. When we run out that’s it. 3M said maybe by April etc…


11 posted on 09/24/2021 4:38:09 AM PDT by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Terry L Smith

…jingle jingle…


12 posted on 09/24/2021 4:39:32 AM PDT by TalBlack (We have a Christian duty and a patriotic duty. God help us.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: CarmichaelPatriot
Not seeing this in NJ but in one remote instance. I saw one sign saying limit two bottles on Cos Amigos tequila. But screw George Clooney anyway.

This sounds like the chicken wing shortage BS from months ago.

13 posted on 09/24/2021 4:41:59 AM PDT by frogjerk (I will not do business with fascists)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: mabarker1
"Might be time for some home brew..."

Heading over to Lowe's today to buy some lead-based solder to repair my granddad's still. Gotta keep it original.

14 posted on 09/24/2021 4:44:53 AM PDT by moovova (There will never be another fair presidential election in the USA.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Liquor shortage? CW II is right around the corner.


15 posted on 09/24/2021 4:50:23 AM PDT by VRW Conspirator (Socialism should more accurately be called Sociopathism)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Baloney. “limited to two bottles a day” is not booze shortage, unless you’re a raging alcoholic with expensive tastes.


16 posted on 09/24/2021 4:56:18 AM PDT by hinckley buzzard ( Resist the narrative.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

Total Wine here in AZ is bursting at the seams with wine, beer and distilled spirits.

In fact I saw a new blended scotch option I hadn’t seen before with ridiculously low prices (<$20/bottle) for “mild & smooth”, “smooth” and “smoky” (lowland, highland, speyside).

I meant to look at the Pinot Gris offerings but per usual got distracted — Nikasi Tricerahops Double IPA — Awesome!

No shortages here. It’s a government induced problem, as usual.


17 posted on 09/24/2021 5:04:14 AM PDT by nonsporting (“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” Romans 10:4)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: moovova; Chode

WOW !!! Nice piece of History passed down to You. Thank You for sharing it.

Don’t forget the Flux Paste.


18 posted on 09/24/2021 6:43:18 AM PDT by mabarker1 ((Congress- the opposite of PROGRESS!!! A fraud, a hypocrite, a liar. I'm a member of Congress !!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: VRW Conspirator

The battle cry can be adapted from President Polk’s famous battle cry of 1844: “Fifty-four/forty or fight!” Just need to drop “fifty-four” and add “ouncer” after “forty”.


19 posted on 09/24/2021 6:49:13 AM PDT by glennaro (Dennis Prager: "Until it's safe" means "Never")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: nickcarraway

20 posted on 09/24/2021 6:50:36 AM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-28 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson