NH Liquor Commission Named Best Liquor Control State In Nation

Press release from The New Hampshire Liquor Commission:

Nov. 10, 2020

The New Hampshire Liquor Commission (NHLC) has been recognized as the best liquor and wine control state in the country by StateWays Magazine for the second time in the annual Control State Best Practices Awards. StateWays noted NHLC’s technological innovation, nonprofit support, unique sales and promotions, and its commitment to consumer education. NHLC was named Overall Winner in StateWays 2017 Awards. New Hampshire is currently one of 17 states in the nation that control the sale and distribution of alcohol and is widely recognized as one of the most progressive and profitable control states. StateWays Magazine is the only nationwide magazine devoted to issues and subjects impacting the beverage alcohol control state system.

“We are extremely proud to be selected as the best control state in the nation for the second time by StateWays Magazine,” said NHLC Chairman Joseph Mollica. “This award is a point of pride for everyone at NHLC and clearly illustrates our commitment to our 12 million annual customers. This is the consummate team effort and without the dedication of our 1,400 employees and hundreds of business partners, this recognition would not be possible.”

StateWays honored NHLC as the best liquor and wine control state in the country for a variety of reasons, including its technological innovation. Noting “this is no easy feat” in its profile piece of NHLC, StateWays highlighted the electronic tag system implemented by NHLC in 2019.

Establishing this system has allowed NHLC to increase efficiency and accuracy by updating prices instantaneously across all 76 Outlets, as well as applying promotions as soon as they are launched. The electronic tags also provide consumers with the opportunity to use their smartphones to interact with products while shopping.

Along with technological innovation, StateWays recognized NHLC’s tremendous efforts to support the New Hampshire nonprofit community. Over the past six years, NHLC has helped raise more than $2.4 million for multiple New Hampshire nonprofit organizations including, Best Buddies New Hampshire, the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire (ARLNH) and Easterseals New Hampshire. NHLC raises money for nonprofits by donating proceeds from large events like the Winter Wine Spectacular and Distiller’s Showcase, through exclusive raffles that benefit charities and through strategic partnerships with brokers, suppliers and producers to benefit important causes.

“The New Hampshire Liquor Commission has racked up a number of wins in the Control State Best Practices Awards, and 2020 is no exception,” said StateWays Writer Melissa Dowling. “The New Hampshire Liquor Commission is this year’s “Best of the Best” overall winner, repeating its feat from 2017 thanks to operational excellence in a number of areas.”

StateWays also noted NHLC’s impressive and innovative sales and promotions. In 2019, NHLC ran a yearlong campaign, “85 Years of Cheers,” to celebrate its 85th anniversary. NHLC kicked off the campaign with an online giveaway that awarded 85 customers 85 percent off their purchases of $250 or $1,000. During the campaign, customers also had the opportunity to win prizes during in-store events.

During “85 Years of Cheers,” the NHLC ran an additional, innovative sale that offered customers discounts equal to double their states’ sales tax rates, called the “No Taxation on our Libations” sale. Maine customers received an 11% discount, Vermont customers a 12% discount and Massachusetts customers a 13% discount. “No Taxation on our Libations” was created to call attention to the fact that New Hampshire is always tax-free.

Consistently focused on responsibility, NHLC launched New Hampshire’s first Mocktail Week in 2019 in collaboration with Brown-Forman and The Mocktail Project. Mocktail Week encouraged New Hampshire bars and restaurants to provide alcohol-free cocktails, known as mocktails, on their menus. The program was born out of NHLC and Brown-Forman’s nationally renowned Live Free and Host Responsibly campaign that promotes responsible use and service of alcohol.

NHLC was previously recognized for Best Technology Innovation in 2015, Best Warehouse Innovation in 2016 and Overall Winner in 2017 in StateWays’ annual Control State Best Practices Awards. The StateWays Best Practices Awards launched in 2015 to recognize control state agencies that are leading the industry in innovation, education, and enforcement. This year was the first year that StateWays had a repeat winner of the Overall award.

In addition to the NHLC’s recognition in StateWays Magazine, readers of the Massachusetts-based Eagle-Tribune voted the Salem NH Liquor & Wine Outlet as the “Best Liquor Store in the Region” for the second year in a row, in the 2020 “Best of The Eagle-Tribune” Awards. Eagle-Tribune readers’ voted the 24,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art NH Liquor & Wine Outlet at 92 Cluff Crossing in Salem, NH, as their favorite liquor store. The Eagle-Tribune, a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning publication based in North Andover, Massachusetts, asked its readership from across the Merrimack Valley in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire to cast votes for businesses and organizations in 50 different categories in its annual “Best of The Eagle-Tribune” Awards.

NHLC was recently named one of the top 10 retailers in the country by Beverage Dynamics, beating out large, private and national competitors.

This press release was produced by The New Hampshire Liquor Commission. The views expressed here are the author's own.