Direct-to-consumer liquor bill signing has Brooklyn craft distillers pumped for online business
Oja says his brand has been making gift-box style collections of their whiskey, something he hopes can be a big hit this holiday season, as the bill is set to take effect 90 days from this week.
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Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill that would allow for mead, liquors and ciders to be sold online, known as Direct-to-Consumer Sales (DTC).
"With this legislation, we level the playing field for all distillers by allowing them to sell directly to consumers, creating new opportunities for local businesses and strengthening our economy here in Brooklyn and throughout the state. I’m offering a toast to Governor Kathy Hochul for signing this bill into law,” said State Sen. Andrew Gounardes, touting a number of distilleries in his Brooklyn district.
Previously, craft producers would only be able to sell their products online if they were classified as beer or wine, with only in person or bulk sales to distributers for distilled products.
For businesses like Kings County Distillery, the move opens up the doors for online sales, but also for tourists to visit their historic facility in Navy Yard that may have never heard of their brand.
"A DTC bill allows us a huge opportunity to share NY-made spirits with NY-grown agriculture and to attract more visitors to our tasting room and grow the business and the national awareness for the great products made here in Brooklyn," said chief operating officer Sebastian Oja.
Oja says his brand has been making gift-box style collections of their whiskey, something he hopes can be a big hit this holiday season, as the bill is set to take effect 90 days from this week.
"The only business that we can do right now directly to consumers is if they come here, So we think about that versus everyone who's online and everyone's online," he said.
For owner of Barrow's Intense NY Tasting room in Industry City Josh Morton, a venue focused on sourced in New York Alcohol, the change would allow them to grow their online presence, and for tourists who tried their ginger liquor, to continue buying when out of state.
"For the last six years that we've had the tasting room open, we can only sell it to consumers in the tasting room, so if their local liquor store doesn't carry it, they're out of luck," he said.
Morton believes the bill could level up the entire New York craft industry by giving them a national reach.
"There's, about a dozen distilleries in Brooklyn, and they'll be able to easily sell to upstate and the rest of the country. So, it's really going to expand our markets beyond the local footprint, which is where most of us operate," he said.
Both say they hope to be taking online orders come Thanksgiving.
