Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages raising the prices on low-end liquor
The state Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations has scheduled price hikes both on liquor mini-bottles and larger bottles of low-end liquor brands.
The Sun Journal reported that regulators last month announced a price hike for nearly 1,000 products they lumped into a new “value” category. The move, to be implemented Oct. 1, includes a 50% increase for most single-serving bottles.
Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations Executive Director Gregg Mineo told the paper that, after hearing from companies in the liquor business, he agreed to an increase of no more than $1 for a larger bottle.
In a letter obtained by the Sun Journal through a Maine Freedom of Access Act request, lawyers for the Louisiana-based Sazerac Co., which owns a bottling plant in Lewiston, called the move “a $10 million stealth tax increase on Maine consumers” that will drive people to buy alcohol more cheaply in New Hampshire or switch to other brands.
Craig Wolf, president of the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, told the paper the price changes will cost Maine nearly $23 million in gross sales.
But Mineo said the hike is intended to address “soft spots” in state profits on liquor. Although sales were growing 4% to 5% annually, state profits have remained flat during the past three years.
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