The Dallas-Fort Worth area is home to some of the country's finest craft beers, but brewers in the state claim that a new Texas law is stifling their industry's growth.
Several craft breweries in the state, led by Peticolas Brewing Company of Dallas, filed a complaint in December to have the law declared unconstitutional.
For quality purposes, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has decreed that the making, distribution, and selling of beer must be handled by three legally separate entities: brewer, distributor, and retailer. This means that those who produce in excess of 125,000 barrels of beer a year must, by law, work with a distributor.
Having to use a distributor is not a problem for the brewers, but a law enacted in 2013 that governs the granting of distribution rights is the object of their concerns. Prior to the passage of the Sale Restriction provision, breweries sold the exclusive and perpetual distribution rights of specific territories to beer distributors and used that money to expand and build their business.
Brewers are now prohibited from receiving compensation for distribution assignment, however. Moreover, once a distributor has acquired exclusive distribution rights to a territory, the distributor can then sell those rights to another distributor.
The key to getting the offending provision of Texas SB 639 ‘Sale Restriction’ repealed may lie in garnering public support. A flyer printing service could be helpful in this regard.
