The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) today released its Fiscal Year 2022-23 Annual Report, which details agency operations, sales trends, popular products, and financial results.

The annual report reviews the agency’s financials and provides insight into functions including store operations, merchandising, marketing, distribution, wholesale operations, information technology, licensing, alcohol education, and personnel. The document is filled with statistics and information about how the agency works and where the money it generates goes.

The annual report also showcases sales by product category, individual products, counties, e-commerce, stores, and sales periods. For example:

• Totaling $2.2 billion, retail dollar sales increased 3.5% over the prior year comprising 74% of total agency dollar sales, with licensee sales of $754.5 million accounting for the remainder.
• Tequila, ready-to-drink beverages, and whiskey topped the list of product categories with the largest year-over-year dollar gains, with increases ranging from 3.8% to 51.9% across categories.
• E-commerce sales totaled $14.5 million, a 6.8% increase in dollar sales compared to the prior year. While transactions decreased marginally by 0.4%, the average transaction value increased 7.1% over fiscal year 2021-22 and the average price per item increased 7.8%.
• Unflavored vodka was the top spirits category in 43 counties, while the remaining 24 counties had American whiskey as the top spirits category.
• California cabernet sauvignon was the top wine category in 42 counties, while another 13 counties had box red wine as the top wine category; California chardonnay and beverage wine followed as the top wine categories in the remaining counties, with six counties each.
• The top three counties – Allegheny, Philadelphia, and Montgomery – accounted for 35% of statewide sales.

Additional highlights of the 2022-23 Annual Report include:

• A one-page summary showing distribution of PLCB funds to various recipients. More than $869.7 million was distributed to the Pennsylvania General Fund and state and local government beneficiaries in fiscal year 2022-23.
• A summary of Fine Wine & Good Spirits store operations, including the launch of a third phase of a customer service training program for store leadership, highlights of new activities and programs to support the PLCB’s retail workforce, and a detail of efforts to enhance customers in-store tasting experiences.
• Details on Special Order (SO) direct delivery, which accounted for 36.7% of total SO transactions with licensees within its first full year.
• Information on permits issued and sales to holders of wine expanded permits, which authorize the sale of wine to go by private retailers.
• An overview of activities related to Project New Horizon, the PLCB’s a multi-year effort to modernize and transform the agency’s technology infrastructure.
• A breakdown of more than 87,000 liquor license and permit applications processed and more than 8,000 investigations completed, as well as a breakout of licenses by county.
• Information on the completion of the PLCB’s 11th restaurant license auction, which resulted in the successful awarding of 20 licenses for potential bid revenue of $3.2 million.
• A summary of alcohol education efforts to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking, including an overview of the agency’s 2023 Report on Underage and High-Risk Drinking, highlights from “Broadening Our Awareness” – the PLCB Bureau of Alcohol Education’s annual conference – and information on the award-winning Know When. Know How.SM campaign.
• Sales information and trends by product and category, including top-selling spirits and wines by county.
• Store-by-store sales and a section dedicated to sales of Pennsylvania-made wines and spirits in FW&GS stores.
• A list of recipients of $1.8 million in PLCB grants that support Pennsylvania’s wine and beer industries.

This report – and reports from previous years – are available at lcb.pa.gov.

The PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol in Pennsylvania, operates about 600 retail and wholesale sales locations statewide, and licenses 20,000 alcohol producers, retailers, and handlers. The PLCB also works to reduce and prevent dangerous and underage drinking through partnerships with schools, community groups, and licensees. Taxes and store profits – totaling nearly $20.3 billion since the agency’s inception – are returned to Pennsylvania’s General Fund, which finances Pennsylvania’s schools, health and human services programs, law enforcement, and public safety initiatives, among other important public services. The PLCB also provides financial support for the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement, the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, other state agencies, and local municipalities across the state. For more information about the PLCB, visit lcb.pa.gov.