ABT May 15, 2022 | Read Time: 4 minutes

What Jack Daniel Grill Tells Us About Trademark Licensing in Florida’s Alcoholic Beverage Industry

By Trevor Brewer

The Florida ABT’s 1998 Declaratory Statement tells that licensed alcoholic beverage retailers can pay manufacturers for the use of their trademark under certain terms. Friday’s Wanted to Create the Jack Daniel’s Grill In Declaratory Statement 98-01, the ABT was asked whether Friday’s Hospitality Worldwide Inc. (“Friday’s”, operators of the same restaurant chain at the time), a alcoholic beverage vendor,...

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Florida Jan 16, 2022 | Read Time: 3 minutes

Mobile Alcohol Sales Are (Mostly) Not Permitted in Florida

By Trevor Brewer

Imagine a business–call it Mobile Bar–that brings the bar to you. You hire Mobile Bar for a reception, party or other event held at your home, office, or other private property. Mobile Bar has a cool, old trailer, truck, or standing bar that it brings to your location. Mobile Bar handles buying all the beer, wine and liquor and...

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Blog Nov 14, 2021 | Read Time: 6 minutes

FL Breweries & Distilleries: Be Wary of Home Delivery Service Apps

By Trevor Brewer

The terms and conditions for popular food and alcohol delivery service apps may be incompatible with the Florida Beverage Law’s prohibition on alcohol home delivery by breweries and craft distilleries. Florida Breweries and Craft Distilleries are Prohibited from Making Deliveries to Customers The Florida Beverage Law (specifically Florida Statutes Section 561.57(1)) generally allows licensed alcohol vendors to accept remote...

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ABT Sep 19, 2021 | Read Time: 4 minutes

Off-Site Alcohol Service by Florida Retailers

By Trevor Brewer

Alcoholic beverage retailers–including bars, restaurants, breweries, wineries, and distilleries–are often asked to provide off-site alcohol service–catering–for a range of events. In Florida, there are a limited number of ways in which an alcohol retailer can participate in providing alcohol service away from its licensed premises. Option 1: Sales to Private Party for Open Bar Alcohol retailers that have a...

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Beverage Legislation Jul 11, 2021 | Read Time: 3 minutes

2021 Florida Craft Distilleries Law: Destination Entertainment Venues

By Trevor Brewer

The 2021 Florida Craft Distilleries Law creates a new non-quota, consumption-on-premises only alcoholic beverage license that may be issued to a craft distillery located within a destination entertainment venue. Because the ABT has not yet designated class for this new license, this article refers to this license as a 4COP-DEV. For a general discussion of the 2021 Craft Distilleries...

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Retail Jun 13, 2021 | Read Time: 3 minutes

Florida’s Alcohol Pool Buying Groups

By Trevor Brewer

How do small Florida alcoholic beverage vendors take advantage of Florida distributors’ volume discounts (See Alcohol Distributors’ Discounts Under Florida Law)? The answer is a pool buying group. (Disclaimer: it works for large vendors too.) How to Jump Into a Florida Pool Buying Group To form a pool buying group, a pool buying agreement must be approved by the...

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Beverage Legislation May 16, 2021 | Read Time: 3 minutes

Compliance with Florida’s Cocktails-to-Go Law

By Trevor Brewer

A Short History Cocktails-to-Go in Florida Sale and delivery of vendor-prepared alcoholic beverage drinks–Cocktails-to-Go–will be permanent authorized under the Florida Beverage Law beginning July 1, 2021. Cocktails-to-Go were first introduced in March 2020 as part of Governor DeSantis’ Executive Order 20-71 limiting restaurants’ dine-in service, in response to the COVID pandemic. Introduced as Senate Bill 148 and House Bill...

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Beverage Legislation May 9, 2021 | Read Time: 2 minutes

Florida Beverage Legislation: 2021 Post-Session Review of Beverage Bills

By Trevor Brewer

The 2021 Session of the Florida Legislature will result in major changes to the Florida Beverage Laws affecting how craft distilleries and restaurants sell alcoholic products. Both houses of the Florida Legislature passed two major bills related to alcoholic beverage sales: SB 46 and SB 148. As of this writing, neither bill has been sent to the Governor, but...

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Florida Mar 21, 2021 | Read Time: 3 minutes

Making & Selling Ready-to-Drink Cocktails in Florida

By Trevor Brewer

Ready-to-drink (RTD) or canned cocktails are growing in popularity. According to Grand View Research, the global RTD cocktails market is anticipated to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.1% from 2020 through 2027. Kevin Roberts, the executive vice president of supplier engagement for the alcohol distributor Breakthru Beverage Group, said “You have a convenience trend happening, you have...

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