"With every liquor store stop, Hanna Raskin followed the same script. "The first thing I would do is walk into the store, and you can pretty much tell whether or not they're going to have amaro," she said. "But that was always my question: 'Can you show me or can you tell me where to find amaro?'""
"In North Carolina, distilled spirits - alcoholic beverages like brandy or whiskey - are sold exclusively through stores owned and operated by the state. As a control state, the government has a monopoly over the sale and distribution of alcohol, overseeing everything from pricing to availability. Clerks are hired by these local boards - which are quasi-public agencies, funded by liquor revenue and overseen by the North Carolina ABC Commission."
North Carolina operates as a control state where distilled spirits are sold exclusively through state-owned stores, with pricing and distribution set by the North Carolina ABC Commission. Local Alcoholic Beverage Control boards are quasi-public agencies funded by liquor revenue and hire store clerks. An investigator pursued 171 public records requests from local ABC boards and conducted secret shopper visits to stores statewide, repeatedly asking where to find amaro. Amaro is an herbal, bitter Italian digestif made with citrus peels, spices and flowers. The centralized system has produced prolonged inventory shortages and higher prices than neighboring private retailers, prompting scrutiny over revenue and access.
Read at Poynter
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]