The sale of canned cocktails has become increasingly popular in recent years, and now California could make it easier for convenience stores to join in on the trend. Senate Bill 277, introduced by state Sen. Bill Dodd earlier this month, would allow convenience store owners to offer 16-ounce cans of distilled mixed spirits with 10% alcohol by volume or less.
Currently, many convenience stores only hold type 20 Alcoholic Beverage Control licenses, which allow them to sell packaged beers and wines. Under the proposed bill, store owners with this type of license would not need to apply for a new permit to sell the specialty mixed drinks. Paul Payne, press secretary for Dodd, told SFGATE that the bill would permit type 20 licensees to stock their shelves with canned distilled spirits too.
The Distilled Spirits Council said in a statement that the proposed bill would help correct the disparity between the number of locations that sell beer- and wine-based ready-to-drink beverages (28,000) and those that sell spirit-based ready-to-drink beverages (14,000).
Dodd hopes that, if passed, the bill will financially aid small businesses across the state and eventually allow consumers to have more options when buying the popular drinks. “It also creates another tax revenue stream during an anticipated economic downturn,” Dodd said in a statement.
The bill will be heard and considered by the state Senate’s Governmental Organization Committee in March. If passed, the bill could help many convenience stores across the state become more profitable and offer customers more options for canned cocktails.
