Residents of Philadelphia are looking at a bit drier of a weekend after the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) instituted a limitation on the sales of certain liquor products.
As a City of Brotherly Love resident myself, the news was surprising but not without precedent. With the ongoing surge of Delta variant coronavirus, and resurging fears of infection driving many Americans back indoors, consumer habits have dipped somewhat back into pandemic trends. The increased demand for take-home alcohol has now coincided with ongoing production-related shortages.
The PLCB has put a two-bottles-per-day purchase limit for customers at state stores, as well as for bars, restaurants and other licence holders. The limit will remain in place indefinitely.
"If you take a look at stories that have come out from around the country because of COVID-19, supply chains have been disrupted, production has been disrupted," said PLCB spokesperson Shawn Kelly. "In some cases, there have been shortages of cans and bottles."
The PLCB's move makes it the first of the country's 17 "control states" (states in the US that manage the sale of alcohol through state and county boards) to enact sales restrictions due to supply disruptions. Several weeks ago, the ABC boards of North Carolina were forced to contend with similar issues, issuing statements responding to the ongoing shortages.
Were it not for the ongoing disruptions to the various elements of alcohol production; the heightened demand might be seen as a boon to the likes of companies such as Boston Beer (NYSE: SAM). Before the Delta variant surge, declining take-home alcohol sales had posed a threat to the prospects of Boston Beer and other firms.
"If current sales trends and current challenges in logistics continue (in addition to delays in procuring raw materials), then the reality is these challenges in maintaining consistent inventory levels to fulfill demand will sustain potentially into 2022," Meredith McCormack of the North Carolina Spirits Association commented.