Clerical error led to canceled liquor contract
A clerical error by Pine State Trading Co. played a factor in the state canceling its 10-year, $20 million liquor marketing contract, the company’s CEO told the Portland Press Herald.
The Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations notified the company of its decision to revoke the contract on Monday, saying the Gardiner-based company provided “inaccurate information” in its business proposal. The cancellation won’t impact Pine State’s separate 10-year contract for administering the state's wholesale liquor distribution operation.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed with the state’s decision to withdraw the award, but we’re completely respectful of their decision and understand it,” Nick Alberding, Pine State’s CEO, told the newspaper.
Alberding said the clerical error involved a misstatement of its market share in New Hampshire. Instead of stating that it had sold 0.4% of its 2 million cases of liquor in New Hampshire, it mistakenly said its market share was 0.004% when submitting for the marketing contract.
Dirigo Spirit, a Cumberland-based company that had lost the liquor marketing bid to Pine State, said it used the company’s clerical error as part of an appeal it filed in February.
“The cancellation confirms the concerns included in our appeal,” Ford Reiche, president of Dirigo Spirit, said in a statement to Mainebiz. “We look forward to participating in a new [bidding] process for the marketing of spirits in Maine, and particularly to addressing the issue of maximizing the state's revenue by recapturing sales lost to New Hampshire.”
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