Third-party alcohol delivery is now legal in the First State, making it the 33rd state to do so, but when Delawareans can begin using the service remains up in the air.
Gov. John Carney signed a bill into law allowing food delivery services like DoorDash, Uber Eats and Postmates to now include alcohol delivery in their services.
The bill does not include retail locations or liquor stores, but restaurants and taprooms can now purchase a license enabling delivery services to deliver up to two bottles of wine, 6 servings of beer and mixed cocktails to customers.
DoorDash’s Head of Regional Government Relations Chad Horrell explains delivery drivers will have the option to opt-in to alcohol delivery once the regulations are finalized.
“Dashers who, of course, are 21 years old who want to deliver alcohol, they would have to take that training in order to be able to do those deliveries," he said.
Horrell says the training will include how to detect fake and altered forms of identification, detecting intoxication in consumers and how to use ID scanning technology to verify a recipient’s age.
“Once that stuff is in motion and once they have given us the go ahead to begin deliveries, we can start working with local restaurants, local merchants.”
Delaware restaurants who want to participate in the service must pay $1,000 for a license every two years.
"I know the restaurants in Delaware are a big reason why this bill was introduced, and it's obviously going to produce more revenue for them, and it's a step in the right direction," Horrell said.
In 2023, the total number of merchants selling alcohol on DoorDash in the US increased by 37% and Dashers earned, on average, nearly 20% more on deliveries with alcohol compared to those without.
Direct-to-consumer alcohol sales remains illegal in Delaware after the legislation stalled in committee this year.
