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We need your help to modernize Minnesota's outdated alcohol laws and allow our friends and neighbors to have more options at grocery and convenience stores! It's time for lawmakers to hear your voice. Join us today!
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Contact your elected officials to tell them you want more options at convenience and grocery stores.
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It's time to modernize Minnesota's beer laws! Let’s put convenience back into convenience and grocery stores and give consumers more choices, including Minnesota brews!
About Choice & Convenience
Red, White & Brew MN is a movement of consumers and retailers dedicated to modernizing our alcohol laws to allow more freedom where we shop.
With century-old liquor laws, it's long past time to catch Minnesota up with what consumers want and expect--choice and convenience.
According to a poll, 64 percent of Minnesotans support modernizing Minnesota's liquor laws and the convenience of having full-strength beer and wine available at grocery and convenience stores.
Minnesota is one of the few states that restricts beer and wine sales to just liquor stores, and the VERY LAST state where 3.2 beer is licensed. We have fewer options than our neighboring states and most of the rest of the nation. And while consumers lose out on selection and competition, our local breweries and wineries miss out on the opportunity to showcase their products to more customers.
If the Minnesota Legislature doesn't act soon, consumers may no longer be able to purchase their favorite products at their preferred locations or have the choices they want. It's time to modernize Minnesota's outdated alcohol laws and allow our friends and neighbors more options in grocery and convenience stores!
The Facts
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Why can’t I get full-strength beer and wine today where I shop for my food?List Item 1
Minnesota has a system of alcohol regulation that separates manufacturing, distribution and sales. Liquor stores in Minnesota can hold a full liquor license, while convenience and grocery stores can hold a 3.2 license--limiting the products that can be sold. In many states--including those around us-- consumers have access to more products where they buy their food, but not Minnesota. By law consumers aren't allowed the convenience of picking up a bottle of wine or full-strength beer when visiting their favorite store.
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How did Minnesota end up as the very last 3.2 licensing state in the nation and is 3.2 product availability really an issue?List Item 2
In short, a quick lesson in history traces Minnesota's 3.2 beer law all the way back to 1933 and prohibition. While every other state modernized their laws to meet consumer demand and declining 3.2 product offerings, we sit and wait for the Legislature to act. And wait. And wait.
Retailers selling 3.2 products report a drastic reduction on options for customers as manufacturers cut back on production. One retailer has seen a 73 percent drop in 3.2 beer products over two years, going from 51 SKUs to only 14 today. Molson Coors became the latest producer to announce an elimination of 3.2 products last May and even fewer options are on the horizon. It shouldn't be a surprise. Why would manufacturers make 3.2 for just Minnesota? Even Utah dumped 3.2 in 2019 citing a lack of consumer demand and availability.
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Do Minnesotans really want more choice and convenience?
Yes! We opened up Sunday sales a few years ago because consumers asked for it. The option to pick up a bottle of wine or full-strength beer when shopping is another common consumer request that just makes sense.
Consumers can buy just about anything online today, but they can't get the wine or beer they want at a grocery or convenience store? That makes no sense!
According to a February poll, 64 percent of Minnesotans support modernizing Minnesota's liquor laws and the convenience of having full-strength beer and wine available at grocery and convenience stores.
But, do your own research! Just ask a friend or neighbor if they would like the convenience of buying full-strength beer and wine where they buy groceries or gas.
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Why do food retailers need to sell full-strength beer and wine?
Most convenience and grocery stores operate on slim profit margins—around 2 percent. With the cost pressures and competition faced by retailers, a wine or beer purchase could be the difference between make or break. And even more important, customers are asking for the option to pick up a six pack of their favorite beer or a local wine when they shop.
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Would more choice where consumers shop harm our liquor stores?
Consumer purchases in other states show that people pick up a bottle of wine or a few bottles of beer at a grocery or convenience store, but they still visit their local liquor store for their regular alcohol purchases. There is opportunity for liquor stores alongside grocery and convenience stores like we see in other states.
And by the way, liquor stores are holding their own today. The latest State Auditor report on Minnesota municipal liquor stores showed a 25th consecutive year of record sales. (Click here for the report.)
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What’s the opportunity for local brewers and wineries?List Item 4
Minnesota's craft breweries and wineries are creating jobs in our communities. And food retailers represent a great opportunity for those entrepreneurs to get their local products in front of consumers in order to earn repeat purchases. Our grocery and convenience stores are eager to sell local brews and wines to their customers!
Manufacturers Are Stopping 3.2 Production
The proof is in the letters. Manufacturers are stopping production of 3.2 beer in Minnesota, including popular products.
Minnesota's Choice Compared
Look around us. Consumers have options in neighboring states.
Visitors to Minnesota are often times perplexed when they go to grab a bottle of wine or craft beer at their local store. You see every state surrounding us--Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin--allows their consumers the option of picking up that bottle at a grocery store. But Minnesota does not.
Let's give Minnesotans (and our visitors!) that freedom!
When you look across the country, Minnesota is an anomaly.
Most states allow consumers choice where they shop, including the option to purchase full strength beer and wine at food retailers.
Minnesota isn't progressive, we are way behind! In fact, 85 percent of Americans can pick up wine or beer in their grocery store today.
It's time for that freedom in Minnesota!
Minnesota stands alone as the very last 3.2 licensing state.
Minnesota is now the only state in the country that restricts some stores from selling beer above 3.2% alcohol, by weight. Even Utah moved away from 3.2 in 2019! Now 3.2 beer makes up less than 2% of the national beer market and continues to decline.
While Minnesota is a special place, it's not special enough for beer makers to continue to make 3.2 products just for us.
News
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Park Rapids Enterprise, March 31, 2022
Letter to the editor by store owner Frank Orton: So why is a leading state so far behind when it comes to its liquor laws?
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Mankato Free Press, January 23, 2022
The marketplace is killing 3.2 beer. Let us raise a toast to days of yore and move on.
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KTTC - Rochester, March 2, 2021List Item 1
Convenience store owners push for removal of 3.2 beer law.
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Fergus Now, March 3, 2021List Item 2
Business owners urge lawmakers to retire 3.2% beer.
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WCCO Radio, March 3, 2021List Item 3
Is 3.2 beer about to become a thing of the past in Minnesota?
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KTOE Mankato, March 3, 2021
Business owners push for end to 3.2 beer sales in Minnesota.
