Cost of alcoholic beverages is sky high

Tax rises and fewer supermarket deals result in soaring prices of wine and beer.

Last month’s inflation figures, compared with the same month last year, show a rise of 9.8 per cent on alcoholic beverages. This also comes at a time when households are feeling the squeeze from increased shop prices, frozen pay and higher taxes.

The increased price of alcoholic beverages in shops and bars has lead to some accusations that consumers wishing to relax and unwind in the face of the economic crisis are being punished by the Government. Jonathan Downey, a top London bar owner said: “The government is taxing people having fun to bail us out of our deficit.”

Lager and New World (Australia, New Zealand, Chile) Wine prices has risen particularly fast due to the restrictions on aggressive loss leader deals in supermarkets. The Government and health groups have put pressure on the big grocery chains to curb ‘aisle end’ promotions that could be considered to contribute to alcohol abuse.

The increase in duties in the March Budget has meant the impact of the price rises has also been felt in the bars and pubs. A bottle of wine has risen by 15p and a pint of beer by 4p. Further factors, such as hikes in raw materials costs, manufacturing and distributing costs including the price of fuel have also contributed to higher prices.

The average price of a pint is now £3.08 for lager, and £2.70 for bitter. Up from £3.02 and £2.64 in March respectively.

Mr. Downey owns numerous bars in London including the Player and Milk and Honey in Soho claims that the price rises are a major concern for London bar owners: People are going out a lot less, and spending a lot less when they are out. The days of going out two to three nights a week and getting happily drunk are a thing of the past. If they do go out, people are having a glass of wine each rather than a bottle.”