Lakewood Ranch distillery seeks relaxation of sales law during COVID-19 pandemic
Florida distillers are asking that they be allowed to make online or phone sales and home deliveries of spirits during the pandemic.
It’s a matter of survival, they say.
Distillers are prohibited by Florida law from taking telephone orders or delivering directly to consumers.
Many spirit makers, like Loaded Cannon Distillery of Lakewood Ranch, shifted their operation during the pandemic to make hand sanitizer, much of which they donated to health care workers and first responders.
Steve Milligan, founder of Loaded Cannon Distillery, estimates that his company has distributed as many as 10,000 samples of hand sanitizer.
Loaded Cannon also sells hand sanitizer in sizes ranging from 10 ounces to five gallons at a time when it can be difficult to find on supermarket shelves.
“Ninety percent of what we have made since the pandemic is hand sanitizer. The other 10 percent is in vodka. At the point when you make 190 proof alcohol, you can make either hand sanitizer or vodka,” Milligan said.
Loaded Cannon sells its hand sanitizer for about $60 a gallon but loses money on each transaction, Milligan said.
“We are committed to making people safe. Hand sanitizer doesn’t make us money, but it is the right thing to do,” Milligan said. “The other side of that is that people have donated bottles to us and volunteered to help. It has been a wonderful thing.”
Loaded Cannon Distillery, located in Suite 110 of the Gatewood Corporate Center at 3115 Lakewood Ranch Blvd., is open five days a week. Customers who stop by for hand sanitizer sometimes also buy a bottle of spirits.
But there is a large number of potential customers who, in the spirit of following the guidance for flattening the pandemic’s curve, don’t want to leave home or get out of their car, Milligan said.
“We have literally tried to keep everyone employed. It is slow right now. I don’t know how long we will be able to sustain,” Milligan said.
What Florida distilleries are seeking is flexibility during the pandemic to make money to help keep their doors open, he said.
The Florida Craft Distiller’s Guild, formed in 2012, advocate for the advancement of Florida’s growing craft distilling industry.
“As they work to support their community, these small businesses fear they will not be able to survive the crisis,” the Guild said in a press release, adding that distillers are seeking clarification from Gov. Ron DeSantis on how they can sell their spirits.
While Section 2E of Executive Order 20-91 encourages businesses to provide delivery, carry-out or curbside service for orders placed over the phone or on line, distilleries are prohibited by Florida statute from taking telephone orders or delivering directly to consumers. It is unclear as to whether they are covered by the executive order’s sound policy goal, the Guild said.
“With the rise of COVID-19, despite our efforts in hand sanitizer production, distilleries are struggling to survive. Our company has been closed to the public for nearly six weeks. By allowing craft distillers to sell and deliver our spirits online, we can generate much needed revenues, re-hire staff and increase our production of hand sanitizers for our local communities that will soon need this product to safely reopen,” Ben Etheridge, CEO of Steel Tie Spirits Company in West Palm Beach, said in the press release.
Florida’s craft distillers are asking the state to clarify this issue and confirm distillers can take orders online and via telephone, and deliver their spirits to consumers at home until the COVID-19 crisis has passed.
“If we could have this for several months it would really be a big help,” Milligan said.
In the past the Guild has also sought to ease restrictions on distillers, which by law cannnot sell cocktails, go to events or sell more than six bottles per label per year to a customer.
Loaded Cannon opened its doors in July of 2019, and within six months faced the additional challenge of an impending global pandemic.
“In the midst of all these things we have still really been engaged with the community,” said Michelle Russell, who handles marketing and social media for Loaded Cannon.
Loaded Cannon Distillery is open 2 - 6 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, noon-7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1-6 p.m. Sunday. For more information, visit loadedcannondistillery.com or call 941-900-1482.
For more information about Florida Craft Distiller’s Guild, visit www.fldistillersguild.com.
