Red White and Food

Wine Facts

Tennessee Responsible Vendor Law

The law applies to beer sales in all Tennessee grocery and convenience stores.
Anyone purchasing beer for off-premise consumption is required to present proof of age. The Tennessee General Assembly is considering whether to make mandatory carding permanent. The industry supports continuing the mandatory carding indefinitely.
The law establishes the “Responsible Vendor Program” administered by the ABC. All “Responsible Vendors” must have each of their clerks complete the training course, and the ABC has authority over the program and its requirements. Read the Responsible Vendor law (PDF).
Tennessee is the only state with mandatory carding for beer sales.

Evidence points to no difference in key public safety statistics between states that allow wine sales in grocery stores and those that do not.
States without wine in grocery stores had an average of 8.2 youth DUIs per 100,000 residents, while states that allowed wine in grocery stores had an average of 6.8 per 100,000 residents. (Federal Bureau of Investigation)
States allowing wine sales in retail food stores had an average of 21.7 fewer youth liquor violations per 100,000 residents than states without wine in grocery stores. (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

A Minnesota report found that households were paying more for alcoholic beverages than a neighboring state due in part to the state’s highly regulated environment. Specifically, the American Economic Group found that residents are paying approximately 17.5 percent too much for alcoholic beverages. This translates to $91.4 million in additional money that Minnesota households spent in 2004 for wine.

Wine sales in retail food stores have been shown to not adversely affect liquor outlets in those states that allow such sales. In fact, prohibitive states continue to lose sales and tax revenue to neighboring states. Increasing the number of available wine merchants actually helps states recapture lost cross-border liquor and wine sales. Read American Economics Group Inc. study – State Licensing of Wine Sales in Food Stores: Impact on Existing Liquor Stores (PDF).