 |
 |
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Beer prices, it depends where you live 2009-11-23 It will come as no surprise to anyone living in the south-east of England that they are paying the highest prices for their beer. Let’s face it, most things are dearer, be it council tax or car repairs. Regional variations may be narrowing, according to the Publican trade magazine’s Market Report, but the figures show the average cost of a pint of lager in the north west is £2.55 compared with £2.90 in the south east. Drinkers have certainly noticed the price of a pint increasing, with many pubs in the south topping the three quid mark, particularly for ‘premium’ lagers. Some pubs may have taken advantage too, according to the Good Pub Guide 2010, which claims a 1p per pint increase from the brewery has translated, in some cases, to a 10p increase at the handpump, which its authors describe as ‘foolhardy’. With inflation at or near zero and interest rates the lowest in a generation, why have beer prices increased? Unfortunately brewer’s costs have risen sharply; energy and raw material price increases have hit brewers hard. On average pub prices rose by about 4.5% in the past year but are ‘well below what should have been added to reflect inflation, plus the price increases from brewers and two big hikes in beer tax’ according to the Publican. Indeed the Chancellor’s increase in tax on beer by 2% above the annual rate of inflation until 2012 won’t exactly help in coming years either. However some brewers and pub companies have pledged to freeze prices to pubs to help them weather the recession. Unfortunately the drinking public may neither know nor care why their pint is getting more expensive. While some pubs and bars appear to have no trouble charging premium prices for drinks, for most pubs there’s a considerable danger to raising prices higher than necessary; customers may chose to go to a cheaper pub, but equally they may decide to abandon the pub altogether. |
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
© 1995-2010 All content of this site is the property of pubs.com and must not be reproduced without permission. Every effort is made to ensure the details contained on this site are correct, however we cannot accept responsibility for errors and omissions.
