Online food delivery services have really taken off in Louisiana, and now a state task force is considering a plan to allow online alcohol deliveries statewide.
Customers looking to order a bottle of wine or a case of beer through apps like Waitr, had their hopes dimmed back in May, when 2 alcohol delivery bills were killed in the House Judiciary Committee.
But now there are talks that the State Legislature could discuss it in the upcoming legislative session before summer..
“These are some of the red blends we sells that are very popular right now,” said Carlos Todaro…
He’s the manager at Marcello’s on Johnston Street.
They’ve got bottles of wine from almost every place in the world. But to get your hands on a bottle, you have to pick it up at the store.
“Right now we can’t deliver wines anywhere out of the building, except for the customer’s car in the parking lot,” said Todaro.
“If consumers weren’t demanding this activity, we wouldn’t be here discussing it,” said Kimberly Robinson, Louisiana’s Revenue Secretary.
But now a state beverage panel and industry leaders are discussing whether Louisiana should allow it’s residents to access liquor, from the touch of an App.
“You can get a daiquiri through a drive-thru, but you can’t get beer, wine or spirits responsibly delivered to your door?” questioned Justin Robinson, the co-founder of the App ‘Drizly.’
For example, the App ‘Drizly’ connects users and local retailers in 70 cities across the country, including Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
“It may be even safer. We’re not going to have drunk people out on the road to get alcohol. They can just get it brought to them,” said Robinson.
“What’s very important is for people on the receiving end, to be over 21,” said Todaro.
If the idea would possibly pass next Legislative Session, panel members discussed adding guidelines, like only delivering to homes and not schools or parks.
“Do you think your sales would go up if you had a delivery service?” questioned Duhe’.
“I think it would stay the same. Because it will take some time for people to get adjusted to deliveries,” Todaro said.
There could even be a group discussing the measure in January, before it’s possibly brought up in the Legislature in the Spring.
That would be to see if lawmakers actually have an appetite for a bill, that would allow the deliveries across the state, and not just decided by each Parish.
