A Dunedin bottle store owner says her business has been "targeted" over the sale of high-strength single units of alcohol.
Caversham Liquor has been stopped from selling alcohol for 48 hours from today after police appealed a decision by Dunedin’s district licensing committee from two years ago.
"It's been incredibly challenging for me as a small independent business and I'm facing ongoing opposition and scrutiny," owner Brenda Yee said.
The bottle store came to the committee’s attention in May 2023, when the renewal of its off-licence was opposed by police.
They cited concerns about the sale of single-unit, high-strength alcohol within what they considered to be a vulnerable community, as well as the store’s level of external advertising.
Two new conditions to the licence were sought — no single sales of RTDs, beer or cider of 500ml or less and no alcohol advertising or promotion on the store’s exterior.
The next month, the committee decided the store’s external advertising was unsuitable and gave them six months to remove any alcohol branding and lifestyle images.
While the issue of single-serve sales was "considered at length", the committee found "in this matter, it is appropriate to allow single-serve sales to take place" and granted the renewal.
The store identified customers who bought single units and understood their reasons for doing so, committee secretary Kevin Mechen said in the decision.
"They have operated businesses in this community for about 60 years.
"They know and understand their customer base and believe that single sales are a good option for them as a business, and the community in which it sits."
But police sought an appeal of the committee’s decision, wanting the conditions of the licence changed, and brought the matter to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority at a hearing last month.
After "something of an interchange" at the start of the hearing, police ultimately decided to abandon their appeal of the single-serve sales ruling, Judge Robert Spear said.
"While the police do not abandon its general objection to single sales, it now appreciated that this case may not be the right case or the right procedure for that issue to be determined given what could be the wider implications."
A separate application was also lodged for the store’s licence to be suspended.
Police alleged the store had broken the law by not updating them that an acting manager was "the permanent manager".
The licensee company admitted the breach and agreed to a 48-hour suspension, from 9am today to 9am Saturday, Judge Spear said.
Mrs Yee said fighting for her liquor licence had been "quite mentally and emotionally and financially exhausting".
"The appeal process has had quite serious impacts on my health and wellbeing.
"I'm a little bit disappointed and sort of heartbroken because I feel I've sort of been singled out as a small business."
She believed her store had been "targeted" to establish a nationwide precedent, Mrs Yee said.
They sold singles "because everyone else out there is still selling singles" and she believed other licensing decisions involving the products had not been contested by police to the same extent hers had.
"My impression is that we've just been a target being a small business, and we're possibly an easier target."
A police spokesman said they were committed to reducing alcohol harm through a number of interventions developed alongside its community partners.
"We take alcohol harm extremely seriously and will continue to monitor compliance to the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act and respond appropriately to any breaches."
