Tag Archives: U.S. Postal Serice

Post office wine shipping bill introduced again

wine deliveries
Ah yes, the power of a monopoly.

And, once again, it will probably go nowhere

We’ve detailed many times on the blog that the FedEx and UPS wine shipping monopoly is only good for FedEx and UPS – and a mess for the rest of us. Which is one of many reasons why we need Congress to pass legislation allowing the U.S. Postal Service to ship wine.

Which also explains why the bill, recently introduced (and for at least the third time), is almost certainly doomed to failure.

Neither shipping company wants it, and both FedEx and UPS spend millions of dollars lobbying Congress to get their way. In addition, the bill must overcome the objections of a variety of alcohol distributors, including our old pals at the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, who see any from of direct shipping as a threat to their God-given monopoly to sell us wine, beer, and spirits.

Finally, there is the almost incomprehensible hatred that some Republicans have for the postal service, and that makes putting together enough votes for passage difficult to begin with. (This attitude is especially worrisome to the Wine Curmudgeon, since several of my freelance clients still send checks in the mail, and I could tell you stories about how long the checks take to get here.)

You’ll also hear that we can’t let the postal service deliver wine because it wouldn’t be safe – protecting minors and so on and so forth. Which is just more self-serving blarney; the same laws, ID checks, and licensing would apply for using the post office just as it does for FedEx and UPS.

Still, given that the postal service wants to deliver wine, that its unions want it to deliver wine, and that key members of Congress want it to deliver wine, there is always hope. And, frankly, given the postal service’s financial woes, allowing alcohol shipping makes perfect sense. It would help the agency and help consumers. Isn’t that better than protecting a couple of monopolies?

Winebits 718: Premiumization, anti-trust, postal service wine delivery

pandemic pricing
“It doesn’t matter what it costs — we want it!”

This week’s wine news: Premiumization “is the gift that keeps on giving.” Plus, grocers ask feds to take action and the history of the postal service and booze delivery

• Premiumization strikes again: I wasn’t going to report this, since we’ve had enough depressing wine news over the last several years. But premiumization as “the gift that keeps on giving?” For whom? Certainly not wine drinkers. Yet Richard Siddle, writing in a British restaurant trade magazine, insists it is: “But we are also increasingly willing to pay more for brands that are genuinely different, authentic and make us feel good about buying them.” The rest of the piece is the usual marketing-speak about how consumers won’t pay more money unless they’re convinced the product is worth it and which, with consolidation, has less and less to do with reality. And no, that the story spells premiumization with an s, in the British English style, doesn’t help.

• Supermarket consolidation: Those of us who pay attention to wine consolidation aren’t the only ones who have noticed what’s going on with big companies controlling key parts of the economy. A trade group of independent grocers has accused the largest retailers, including Walmart and Amazon, of “predatory action.” The trade group says the biggest retailers get better pricing, exclusive products, and even better packaging because they have more clout in the market place. The group has asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate to see if those practices violate federal law.

• Booze and the postal service: Wayne Curtis, writing in The Daily Beast, does a terrific job detailing the history of the U.S. Postal Service and alcohol as there’s a chance the agency might be allowed to deliver wine. “Given the long-standing prohibition against shipping liquor, it may come as a surprise to learn that ordering liquor by mail was once commonplace.” It’s the kind of story I wish I had written, and includes an ironic section about how it was once legal for out-of-state retailers to sell into another state.

Lawmakers introduce bill to let U.S. Postal Service deliver beer, wine, and spirits

wine deliveries
If Congress allows the postal service to deliver beer, wine, and spirits, we not have to post signs like this in front of our homes.

Will UPS and Fed Ex — which are notorious for slipshod service and non-delivery deliveries — finally have competition?

Regular visitors here know the wine world’s frustration with UPS and Fed Ex, which view wine deliveries as something they do only when they feel like it. Service has improved during the pandemic, but there’s no guarantee things won’t return to normal – because, as one reader left in a comment, “They like to just beep their horn and take off.”

Now, we may have hope – competition from the U.S. Postal Service. A bill with 19 sponsors was introduced in May in the House of Representatives to allow the postal service to ship wine, beer, and spirits just like UPS and Fed Ex do.

Jim Tresize, who oversees the Wine America trade group, writes that the bill stands a better chance of passing than past legislation, which went nowhere. That had much do with GOP dislike of the postal service, as well as the power of the Fed Ex and UPS lobbying purse.

This time, though, says Tresize, the bill has a better chance of success “due to some important changes [in the legislation], more bipartisan support, and the dire financial straits of USPS, which could use some new business. … Wine is a bipartisan beverage, and we want to keep it that way.”

The bill also has the support of 12 trade unions and 14 beer, wine, and spirits groups, including the Distilled Spirits Council. The alcohol industry, what with the pandemic and the Trump tariff, has remained surprisingly united in advancing progressive liquor legislation.

That’s the good news. The bad news? There’s little indication that GOP post office hard-liners in the Senate will back down; the bill did not have a Republican co-sponsor in the upper chamber at the end of May. In addition, the powerful Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association, which opposes any form of direct shipping, has opposed the bill. And the neo-Prohibitionists will likely lend their support against it, arguing that it will lead to more underage drinking.

So e-mail your member of Congress (both House and Senate) in support of the USPS Shipping Equity Act and hope for the best. We’re not asking for anything special – just competition. And how bad can that be?