Four Loko fans fearing the impending prohibition of the caffeine-laced malt beverage hoarded cans of the product well before state regulators abruptly instituted a ban yesterday.
The Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission required stores to immediately remove the drink from shelves Thursday instead of their original plan to ban it Monday.
“We’re done, we’re tapped out of it, it’s not even an issue,” Nick Frohne of Mall Discount Liquors & Wines in Brookline said about an hour after the ban was announced. “We just got five cases and they are all gone.”
Even though Four Loko announced it would remove caffeine from the drink, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration called it a public health risk on Wednesday. William Kelley of ABCC said they were waiting for the FDA’s ruling to pull the trigger.
“The game changed,” he said. “The time for action was now as opposed to waiting as originally planned.”
The ABCC said wholesalers must retrieve Four Loko from stores at or before their next delivery or by Dec. 3.
“Some places were trying to stockpile and hoard it hoping to make a quick extra buck,” Frohne said. “I can see a lot of unhappy business owners after the ban came.”
Galang Do, 29, of Quincy bought 30 cans earlier in the week but has no plans to sell any on eBay.
“I’d rather enjoy it with friends than make money,” he said. “Just to be able to say ‘hey we got the last batch.’”
Four Loko representatives did not return a request for comment.
