First it was toilet paper and now there appears to be have been a run on alcohol purchases. Apparently people are stocking up in case there is a complete lock down which could limit access to bottle shops. Although bottle shops are considered an essential service, under their liquor licenses they still have to supply alcohol in a responsible way and binge buying would not qualify as responsible supply of alcohol. There is a real concern that bored people, spending long hours at home may engage in excessive alcohol consumption which, combined with being in close proximity to others, may lead to increased family violence.
Due to these concerns the major retailers are limiting alcohol purchases. At the moment this appears to be driven by Retail Drinks Australia, the national industry body which represents retail liquor stores, although the Western Australian Government instituted the following restrictions last week:
- three bottles of wine;
- one carton of beer, cider or pre-mix spirits;
- one litre of spirits;
- one litre of fortified wine.
The voluntary industry restrictions apply to the following retailers at this stage:
- Dan Murphy’s and BWS;
- Coles Liquor (which includes Liquorland, Vintage Cellars and 1st Choice Liquor);
- Aldi;
- Independent Brands, which owns The Bottle-O and IGA Liquor.
And the limits being applied include only being able to choose two from the following categories:
- Two cases of beer or;
- Two cases of cider or;
- Two cases of pre-mixed spirits or;
- 12 bottles of wine or;
- Two casks of wine (not to exceed 10L in total) or;
- Or two bottles of spirits (not to exceed 2L in total).
At this stage independent liquor stores including some from my previous LinkedIn article on which Bottle’o to choose don’t appear to be applying limits.
Online liquor stores also don’t appear to be limiting sales although you will obviously need to wait for your order to be delivered. As we have a liquor license please look out for our online store coming soon (for local pick up and delivery only).
As always, we encourage you to enjoy wine in moderation and please don’t abuse it during these challenging times.
Cheers,
Antony.
