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.
Pennsylvania lawmakers intended for the PLCB to remain the primary wholesaler of ready-to-drink cocktails even after the state passed Act 86 in July 2024, Kelly said. That law opened the door for beer distributors, grocery and convenience stores, and hotels to sell spirits-based canned cocktails, but it also preserved the PLCB's right to purchase and sell them. Under Pennsylvania's liquor code, a ready-to-drink cocktail is legally defined as a premixed beverage containing distilled liquor, packaged in containers no larger than 16 ounces with no more than 12.5% alcohol by volume, and it is classified as liquor under state law, per the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
A Record-Breaking Brand Caught in the Middle
Stateside launched in 2015 by distilling vodka, founded by Clement Pappas, his brother Zach, and Matt and Bryan Quigley. The company's earlier hit, Surfside vodka iced tea, sold its first 10,000 cases almost overnight after launching in late 2021, and the ready-to-drink category overall has more than doubled its market share since that year, according to the Inquirer. Surfside itself sold more than 11 million cases in 2025, up from 4.9 million the year before, per The Spirits Business.
Super Lyte, described as a noncarbonated, sports-drink-style vodka cocktail with zero sugar and 90 calories, built on that momentum. Stateside President Matt Quigley has projected the drink will sell 4 million cases by the end of this year. The company moved its corporate operations during 2026 from a 6,000-square-foot Philadelphia distillery into a 34,200-square-foot Center City headquarters, reflecting the scale of its growth even as its flagship product faces higher in-state prices.
The Daily Grind for Retailers
For small operators, the pricing fight translates into logistical headaches. Shawn David, one retailer cited in the Spotlight PA investigation, drives 30 miles to the PLCB's licensee service center in Bridgeville just to restock Super Lyte. The broader ready-to-drink boom has only intensified demand: spirits-based alcohol sales rose more than 11% in the month ending June 29, while flavored malt beverage sales grew 3% and beer sales declined, according to C-Store Dive. Canned cocktails can already be bought to-go in more than half the country, the outlet reported, and states including Texas and California have introduced their own laws to widen access.
The PLCB has been adapting to the canned-beverage surge since 2016, when the rise of canned wine and expanded wine permits first pushed the agency to rethink its operations. With a 92-year history, the board still sets minimum prices for products it lists for other retailers — a structure that, for now, keeps Super Lyte's Pennsylvania price tag higher than it was before the PLCB's June letter.
