Food with Wine Coalition Legislative Project

The Food with Wine Coalition (FWWC) is a non profit corporation which was established by Kentucky's grocery industry for the purpose of educating and informing thought leaders throughout the Commonwealth about the benefits of revising existing state law to allow grocery stores to sell wine in wet and moist counties.  The FWWC retained L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC for the purpose of developing and managing this extensive project.

(Note: please scroll down to learn more about this project, which includes links to a detailed project summary, the FWWC project brochure, FWWC collateral materials, media reports and the FWWC Web site).

The FWWC has clearly emerged as the leading organization on this issue.  At present, 34 states allow grocery stores to sell wine.  When the law is changed in Kentucky, the Commonwealth will collect an estimated $78 million over the first five years in new tax revenue - without raising an existing tax rate or creating a new tax.

Food with Wine Coalition Project Summary

Please click on this link in order to view a detailed summary of this project.  The summary includes analysis of how the project started, and the various components which have been brought together which allows the Food with Wine Coalition to lead on this issue in Kentucky.

Food with Wine Coalition Project Brochure

In order to assist in telling the story to Members of the Kentucky General Assembly and other key thought leaders around the Commonwealth, the Food with Wine Coalition (FWWC) developed a project brochure.  The brochure provides background on the issue and the positive impact that revising the law will have not only on the Commonwealth of Kentucky but also Kentucky's growing wine industry.  Please click on the following link to view the FWWC project brochure.

Food with Wine Coalition Collateral Materials

Numerous collateral pieces have been developed to support the Food with Wine Coalition's (FWWC) contention that revising existing law will be beneficial to the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC led the development of the collateral pieces, including drafting text and assisting with the graphic design. 

Please click on the following links to view the general one-pager and the economic impact one-pager .  These one-pagers have been distributed to thought leaders, members of the press as well as Members of the Kentucky General Assembly.

Additionally, the FWWC launched an online petition drive to solicit the support of every-day Kentuckians in revising the law.  The drive secured the support of over 18,000 Kentuckians.  By signing the online petition drive, letters of support for revising the law were automatically generated to the signer's individual state representative and state senator.  The petition drive was supported with in-store collateral pieces which were displayed in over 110 grocery stores throughout Kentucky, stretching from Paducah to Ashland.  Please click here to view images of the following in-store collateral pieces: full size bottle display, and bag stuffer.

An earlier in-store petition drive secured 56,000 signatures in support of the legislation.

Media Reports

The issue of allowing grocery stores to sell wine in Kentucky has generated a lot of coverage by the media.  L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC President Luke Schmidt serves as the spokesperson for the Food with Wine Coalition (FWWC).  Luke Schmidt has conducted two statewide media tours on behalf of the FWWC which resulted in hundreds of newspaper articles, radio and television news stories. Luke Schmidt drafted and distributed press releases on behalf of the Coalition as needed.  Numerous media reports can be found throughout the News section of this Web site. 

Food with Wine Coalition Web Site

The Food with Wine Coalition (FWWC) created a Web site to support its position that revising Kentucky law will provide significant benefits to the Commonwealth.  Please click on this link to view the FWWC Web site.

Food with Wine Coalition Project Video

The Food with Wine Coalition (FWWC) has also created a video to promote the benefits of allowing grocery stores to sell wine in Kentucky.  L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC developed the outline and the script for the video and worked closely with FWWC member The Kroger Compay to produce the piece.  Please click on this link to view the FWWC video (which is housed on the FWWC Web site).