Kōloa Rum Co., with support from Hawaii distilleries including Kō Hana Distillers, Koʻolau Distillery, Kuleana Rum Works, Lanikai Brewing Co., Kupu Spirits (Maui Brewing Co.) and Pau Maui Vodka, kicked off a public petition on Change.org to encourage Hawaii’s Gov. David Ige to create an Executive Order allowing direct-to-consumer (DtC) shipping of spirits. You can find the petition here: http://chng.it/rp6bN9vXdG
Hawaii’s craft spirits industry relies heavily on both tourism and kamaʻaina (local) traffic to sustain their businesses. As Hawaii distilleries have closed their tasting rooms and suspended tours in the face of this health crisis, these closures have left distillers in an increasingly difficult position. During this pandemic, Hawaii distilleries mobilized to shift production to alcohol-based sanitizers to supply local first responders, hospitals, health care providers, and essential businesses at the front lines of the health crises with much needed supplies at significant expense to our businesses, which were already suffering.