Pennsylvania supermarkets will soon welcome ready-to-drink cocktails to their store shelves.
Last week, the state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, signed a law that amends the state’s Liquor Code to allow establishments like restaurants and grocery stores to sell ready-to-drink cocktails.
The law, which takes effect mid-September, defines ready-to-drink cocktails as premixed drinks made with 16 ounces or less of liquor and with an alcohol content no greater than 12.5%. It prohibits the sale of canned cocktails after 11 p.m.
Previously, only state-owned liquor and wine stores could sell canned cocktails in Pennsylvania.
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“Since the base alcohol is liquor, Pennsylvania consumers can only purchase [ready-to-drink cocktails] at our State Stores. Unfortunately, only limited products are currently being offered, and those sales account for less than 2% of shelf space in stores,” State Sen. Mike Regan, who sponsored the legislation, wrote in a memo last year. “As these products continue to grow, they are flooding into neighboring states, while Pennsylvania’s selection remains limited.”
The new law comes at a time when canned cocktails are booming. With nearly 27% growth in 2023 and $2.8 billion in sales, ready-to-drink canned cocktails is the fastest-growing segment of the spirits category, according to data from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. A bevy of beverage companies have whipped up new formulations for recent product launches in the category, according to Food Dive.
Pennsylvania has a long history of complex liquor laws and grocers in the state face some of the strictest alcohol laws in the country. However, state legislators have worked throughout the years to loosen its restrictions. In 2015 and 2016, Pennsylvania ushered in several changes, including allowing grocery stores to sell wine by the bottle and opening the state’s Fine Wine & Good Spirits stores on Sundays, PhillyVoice reported.
Grocers have engaged recently with lawmakers and the liquor industry in several states, including Connecticut and Maryland, to nab more alcohol sales.
