(Courtesy Pixabay)

With much of the US still semi-sheltering-in-place, consumer interest in having beer shipped directly to their houses has skyrocketed. Yet only 12 states and the District of Columbia allow it to be shipped across state lines.

Here’s the deal…

Interest in direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping of craft beer is strong and growing among regular craft beer drinkers, according to the new Direct-to-Consumer Beer Shipping Report released by Sovos ShipCompliant and the Brewers Association.

The report analyzed the results of both a consumer poll and a craft brewer survey conducted in the first quarter of 2021.

The Sovos ShipCompliant/Harris Poll consumer survey found that 84% of regular craft beer drinkers, (defined as those who drink craft beer at least once per month), want to be able to legally purchase beer via direct-to-consumer shipping to their homes.

And while in-state direct-to-consumer beer shipping has grown in the wake of COVID-19 only 12 states and the District of Columbia allow for beer to be shipped directly to beer fans across state lines.

The states that currently allow interstate direct-to-consumer shipping include…

• Alaska
• District of Columbia
• Kentucky
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• Vermont
• Virginia

(Courtesy Tavour)

The survey also found that more than 7 in 10 regular craft beer drinkers (73%) say the pandemic has increased their interest in purchasing craft beer via DtC shipping.

Other notable findings in the report on craft beer drinkers’ attitudes toward direct-to-consumer shipping and associated regulations include:

• Four in five regular craft beer drinkers (80%) report they would be more likely to try new beer brands if they were able to purchase the beer via direct-to-consumer shipping to their homes.
• Nearly three in five (57%) regular craft beer drinkers say they have purchased craft beer from a brewery and had it shipped directly to their homes via a third-party carrier.
• Since COVID-19 pandemic restrictions began in March 2020, there was a slight uptick in the purchase of craft beer for DtC shipping. Nearly half of regular craft beer drinkers (48%) say they purchased craft beer directly from a brewery and had it shipped directly to their homes via a third-party carrier prior to the pandemic, and just over half (51%) say they did so since the pandemic began.
• An overwhelming majority of regular craft beer drinkers (84%) say they want to be able to legally purchase beer via direct-to-consumer shipping to their home — a practice currently allowed for consumer purchases from most domestic brewers in just 13 U.S. states.
• The same proportion (84%) say that current beer shipping laws in the U.S. should be updated to make it legal to ship beer direct-to-consumer in more states than the 13 U.S. states in which it is currently legal.
• Beer lovers may be eager to receive DtC shipments of craft beer from markets outside their local areas, with more than three-quarters of regular craft beer drinkers (78%) saying they have tried a beer while traveling that they wish they could purchase, but it is not available near their home.

As things stand now 13% of craft brewers are engaged in direct-to-consumer shipping, according to the Brewers Association survey of 141 U.S. craft brewers in 38 states.

Most breweries still focus close to home, with 89% of breweries that do some DtC shipping (via common carrier) reporting that their home states are their primary markets. That said, some breweries are finding markets outside their own states, with 11% now reporting they sell more volume DtC out-of-state than in-state.

“Craft brewers across the country are interested in the market access afforded by all types of direct-to-consumer sales, including DtC shipping,” said Bart Watson, chief economist, Brewers Association….

 “This is not only a pandemic-induced pivot but a response to the growing demand we see from beer lovers to access their favorite beverage — online and shipped to their homes  — the same way they do countless other goods in today’s ecommerce era.”