For years, consumers and industry veterans alike have complained that Pennsylvania’s laws regarding the sale and access to adult beverage were some of the most restrictive in the nation. Not surprisingly, if one rolls back the clock 20 years one would find only two distilleries, 10 Pennsylvania breweries and a slathering of less than 70 Pennsylvania wineries. Fast forward to today, one finds a totally different landscape. Pennsylvania now hosts more than 300 craft brewers, 142 distilleries and nearly 300 wineries. This evolution is in large part due to many changes made by the legislature to the Pennsylvania Liquor Code. Recognizing the need to boost economic opportunities and Pennsylvania agriculture, laws have been enacted to support these Pennsylvania based adult beverage manufacturers who are now gleefully calling Pennsylvania home.

Prior to these changes, large multi-national and national suppliers of adult beverages ruled the Pennsylvania consumer landscape.  Armed with massive amounts of marketing dollars and the ability to offer discount pricing to consumers, these large distillers, brewers and wineries accounted for more than 95% of the Pennsylvania adult beverage market.  The advantages these large suppliers had in distribution, pricing and consumer outreach made their position  seemingly impregnable.  Local suppliers of any of these three types of products were at a severe disadvantage and as such, growth in the local industries were stymied.

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