State Sen. Jack Walsh introduced legislation in June to allow food delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats to deliver alcohol along with food orders in the First State.
To order alcohol through a delivery app, under the legislation, the purchase must be paired with at least $10 worth of food.
“This is supported by the distributors, it’s supported by the delivery drivers who are the teamsters – we’re very unique here in Delaware – we have what’s called a three-tier system, and this bill keeps that three-tier system intact."
Walsh is referring to an enforced structure where producers sell to distributors, who then sell to retailers who then sell to consumers – direct-to-consumer alcohol shipment is currently outlawed in Delaware.
Chad Horrell, Head of Regional Government Relations for DoorDash, says the program is already seeing success in other states.
“The consumers want it. Restaurants are seeing an increase in sales through their third-party orders, and then for our delivery drivers, they’re seeing an increase anywhere up to say 30% – I think the average is around a 30% increase in the earnings that they are generating if alcohol is involved in the order.”
The legislation ensures the delivery services absolve all responsibility, meaning the vendor must be appropriately licensed and drivers 21 years and older must opt-in to alcohol delivery and be trained accordingly. It will also be up to the driver to certify the recipient is not underage or intoxicated.
The attached fiscal note requests the hiring of an Alcohol & Tobacco Enforcement Agent III to perform compliance and enforcement duties in regards to the bill, including recurring annual costs of around $125,000.
The bill has already been voted out of the Banking, Business, Insurance & Technology Committee and awaits approval from the Finance Committee when the legislative session starts next month.
