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Texas Craft Beer’s Opportunity for Impact

The craft beer industry contributes $5 BILLION to the Texas economy, creating more than 30,000 small business and manufacturing jobs. Texas ranks 6th in total beer production yet, when it comes to breweries per capita, we rank 47th.

This means the industry still has a lot of room to grow, but we need to fix anticompetitive laws holding small brewers back from maximizing the potential growth and economic impact they are capable of.

delivery man knocking on a door

Margs to Go’ Saves Texas Retailers

Brewpubs Excluded

With the passing of House Bill 1024, Texas allowed for beer, wine, and mixed drinks to be delivered to consumers from retailers such as bars and restaurants. This bill codified Governor Abbott’s COVID-19 allowances that helped save many Texas small businesses during the pandemic. Brewpubs, which are members of the retail tier according to the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code, were written out of the pandemic allowances as well as the bill that codified “Margs-to-go” into law excluding them from the delivery rights enjoyed by their fellow retail tier members.

Delivering on Convenience & Safety

Not only does direct to consumer shipping and delivery contribute to industry growth, it is also safe as there are existing protocols to prevent minors from accessing alcohol through shipping and delivery already in place.

Frequently asked questions:

What do these protocols look like for delivery?

The TABC Marketing Practices Advisory relating to delivery of alcoholic beverages from members of the retail tier can be found here. You will notice it looks very similar to the protocols for selling alcoholic beverages in store for off-premise consumption.

What do these protocols look like for shipping?

The TABC guidelines for direct to consumer wine shipping can be found on their website.

What does the research say?

In fact when looking at data from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, minor consumption of alcohol in states that allow direct to consumer shipping of wine has continued to decrease year on year at similar or even increased rates compared to states without direct to consumer shipping of wine.

We Need Your Support!

Texas wineries, most retailers, and third-party delivery apps all enjoy pathways to ship or deliver alcoholic beverages directly to Texas consumers while complying with state liquor laws and customer age verification requirements. Let’s help Texas brewers do the same, giving Texas consumers more convenience and choice to access the products they demand.

It is time that we allow Texas brewers to have the delivery and shipping privileges other members of the Texas alcohol industry have such as:

  • Allow Texas breweries and brewpubs to deliver beer directly to consumers at their homes/apartments.
     
  • Allow Texas breweries and brewpubs to utilize third party delivery services to deliver beer to consumers at their homes/apartments.
     
  • Allow Texas breweries and brewpubs to ship beer directly to consumers across the state via licensed carrier. 

Get in Touch!

Caroline Wallace | Executive Director
caroline@texascraftbrewersguild.org

Travis Bailey | Government Affairs Associate
travis@texascraftbrewersguild.org

Jon Lamb | Government Affairs Committee Chair
jon@redhornbrew.com

Jim Dow | ‭(512) 965-1371‬
jdow@crossoakgroup.com

Nelson Nease | (512) 466-8271
nnease@crossoakgroup.com

Tom Holloway | (512) 923-5944
tom@crossoakgroup.com