ABC trying to ease backlog on orders of liquor in state

What the state beverage control board thought was an equitable solution to a backlog of orders in the state has led to concerns and a backtrack — and no end in sight to the problem.

On Friday, the Mississippi Alocholic Beverage Control issued a statement notifying its retail outlets that it would not take orders the week of July 13 in an effort to ease the backlog of orders already in place.

ABC sent an e-mail to to outlets and posted on its Facebook page to notify everyone why the action was needed.

“The Mississippi ABC made a decision to temporarily suspend our liquor ordering system to try to remedy the unprecedented backlog of orders currently in our system. This step would have allowed permittees to receive prior orders during the week of July 13th but not place new orders during this week. This action was needed catch up with the increased demand we have experienced over the last four months.”

However, retailers flooded the Jackson office with concerns, forcing ABC to amend the plan.

“We have received numerous concerns from you, our partners, over this step and are taking another look at our options. In the meantime, we will be bringing our order system back on line today with the same order limits that were previously in place. Our hope is to find a solution that will allow the ABC to clear up the backlog while still providing our customers with the services they need to keep their businesses running smoothly.”

Mississippi has seen a spike in liquor revenues since the pandemic began. A June 15 story from WXXV said ABC was experiencing a record number of orders. Orders were limited to 100 cases a day.