
I have nothing against Delivery Dudes, in fact I think it is positive thing that they are in the market. The fulfillment house pays for adult signature and a common carrier employs well trained individual to obtain adult signature and maintains a database verifying that an adult signature was obtained. The fulfillment house has packages delivered by a common carrier like Fed Ex and UPS. Let’s juxtapose this to delivery by the fulfillment house.
#Ship whiskey tennessee verification
Of course, the general welfare requirement of age verification needs to be performed. It is ironic that these legislators worry about the harms caused by wine coming from a fulfillment house, yet, a Tennessee resident can go onto an app, order product and someone who may not even be an employee of the retailer, shows up in a Ford pinto and brings a six pack of beer to the customer’s house.įurther, Tennessee residents can utilize Delivery Dudes (yes, a real service) have someone show up that purchased alcohol from someone else and deliver the beer. Interesting how the legislature determines what harms require the state to step in and save its residents. Yes, this legislation will protect Tennessee’s citizens from the harm caused by fulfillment houses shipping wine. This legislation, which effectively shuts off a large part of the winery shipping market, bases its benevolence on serving the public welfare. Without fulfillment houses much of the American wine does not get to market and consumers suffer from a lack of choice.Īnother fictitious policy reason for a law

The role of fulfillment houses is indispensable to the wine industry. The fact remains, many wineries do not have the capacity to store wine on premise and utilize a fulfillment house’s services. Basically, every winery in America utilizes a fulfillment house. In essence, the Tennessee law effectively acts to prohibit small wineries from shipping to Tennessee residents.īut it is not just small wineries that reap the benefits of a fulfillment house. Without the presence of a fulfillment houses, many small wineries could not enter the DTC market. The fulfillment house takes care of these functions for many small wineries.

It is costly and difficult for a winery to direct ship and comply with the different state tax and legal requirements, especially for small wineries. Additionally, the fulfillment houses also play an important role in helping wineries comply with tax and legal requirements. Under the legislation, wine can only be shipped into the state if it is shipped directly from the winery’s premises and shipping wine from a fulfillment house becomes an illegal act.Īdditionally, this legislation proposes to limit how wine can be manufactured.Ī fulfillment house serves an important role in the wine industry, they help facilitate the sale and shipment of wine.

Tennessee’s legislation intends to severely restrict how wine is delivered to Tennessee residents. However, the legislation (each bill has identical language) introduced in Tennessee would turn the clock back to days where wineries were shut out of the market and consumers were left with less choice. That decision opened up the markets for out-of-state wineries and allowed greater consumer choice. In 2005 the Supreme Court in Granholm decided that a state could not discriminate against out-of-state wineries shipping into a state. Unlike many state laws which are aimed at curtailing or prohibiting wine retailer shipping, these bills are aimed at winery shipping. Tennessee legislation, HB 0742 and SB 0705, represents the biggest attack on direct-to-consumer (DTC) wine shipping in our lifetime. Tennessee legislation represents the biggest attack on DTC shipping in our lifetime
