Pennsylvania’s state liquor monopoly has made one of the country’s fastest-selling canned cocktails more expensive for the people who live there. Super Lyte, a vodka-based drink from Philadelphia-based Stateside, sold one million cases in just 142 days — a launch pace that outran even the previous record holder, Lucky One, which took a full year to hit the same mark. But a NewsWorks Lab investigation found that Pennsylvanians are now paying more for Super Lyte and other Stateside drinks than they did before the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board sent the company a demand letter in June.
A Letter That Changed the Math
The trouble traces back to June 3, when PLCB Executive Director Rodrigo Diaz sent Stateside co-founder Clement Pappas a letter insisting the board be allowed to buy all of the company’s ready-to-drink cocktail varieties in every configuration unless Stateside said otherwise, according to Spotlight PA. The letter rippled across the state’s alcohol retail landscape, reaching roughly 2,400 grocery stores, convenience stores, beer distributors, restaurants and hotels, plus nearly 3,500 bars and nightclubs statewide — including 480 in Pittsburgh alone, per the same investigation.
Once the PLCB listed all of Stateside’s products in every configuration in September, distributors could no longer buy them for less than a 10% wholesale discount off the state’s retail price, Spotlight PA reports. That is a notably thin margin: the same outlet found distributors must now buy Stateside beverages from the PLCB at wholesale prices just 10% below what Pennsylvania charges at retail, effectively squeezing out cheaper direct deals that had existed earlier in the year.
What the Numbers Actually Show
Before that shift, Super Lyte could cost as little as $47.99 a case when distributors bought pallets directly from Stateside. Now, Beaver County Beverage pays the state-mandated wholesale price of $53.99 per case, according to Spotlight PA’s reporting. Stateside recommends retailers charge $19.99 for a variety eight-pack, a price point noted by both The Philadelphia Inquirer and industry trade coverage.
As first reported by TribLIVE, the PLCB also required every 24-can Super Lyte case to be shrink-wrapped into three eight-packs, a packaging mandate the board carried out using equipment acquired through contractors. Stateside paid $1 per case for that shrink-wrapping, the outlet reported. The company had told the PLCB it couldn’t supply the agency at full volume until fall 2026, even as it was presolding 300,000 cases of Super Lyte ahead of its public launch.
The Board’s Dual Role
The PLCB functions simultaneously as regulator, retailer and competitor in Pennsylvania’s liquor market, a structure Spotlight PA’s investigation describes as creating a conflict of interest since the board both licenses retailers and competes with them. The agency runs roughly 560 state liquor stores, 13 licensee fulfillment centers, and two distribution centers in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, according to the same reporting. It generates about $750 million a year in taxes and profits for the state’s general fund, PLCB spokesman Shawn Kelly told Spotlight PA, and it awards $3 million annually in grants supporting Pennsylvania’s wine, spirits and beer industries…