E-Malt.com News article: UK: Heineken to raise beer and cider prices, reduce alcohol content in Fosters beer

Heineken will increase the price of their beer and cider by more than 15 per cent after Christmas due to 'unprecedented cost increases', The Mail Online reported on November 15.

Punters will be have to shell out £7 or more for some draft Heineken beers from January 16, after the prices rise by an average of 15.8 per cent.

On top of increasing wholesale prices, the brewery also told landlords it will be reducing the alcohol content in Fosters, from 4 per cent to 3.7 per cent, citing 'consumer trends towards lower strength products'.

Looking at prices taken on November 15 from central London Green King pubs, the hikes could mean a Heineken Silver would go from £6.50 to 6.86 - up 36p.

Amstel would rise from £5.75 to £6.12 up 37p, Birra Moretti from £6.60 to £7.01 - up 41p, Kronenbourg 1664 from £5.75 to £6.07 - up 32p, Old Mout Berries and Cherries - from £6.45 to £6.86 up 41p and Fosters from £5.55 to £5.85 - up 30p.

Their draught lager range will rise on average by 36p per pint, with 15 per cent to 17 per cent hikes for all of them.

Other brands owned by Heineken include John Smiths, Red Stripe, Desperados, Tiger and Strongbow.

It comes as hard-pressed families face food prices rises due to inflation, soaring energy bills and fuel prices.

While pubs have also warned that they are being priced of business and have pleaded for a freeze to beer duty ahead of the upcoming Autumn statement.

The new plan is set to increase the duty in line with double-digit levels of inflation to save the Government around £600 million a year.

The British Beer and Pub Association said the industry needs the freeze after more than 50 pubs closed in a month - compared to around 30 a year prior.

An average pint in the UK was £2.30 in 2008, but the price of pints has increased since then by 72 per cent to an average of £3.95 in 2022. In London, an average pint costs far higher at £5.50, according to finder.com, and prices continue to increase.

In August, pension provider Penfold predicted the average cost of a pint will go up to £4.42 by 2025 and the cost of a pint in London would rise to an astronomical £13.98.

Budweiser said they are monitoring their prices after Heineken announced it was raising the price of beer in Ireland earlier this month.

'We are also facing increases in waste packaging and other taxes,' said a spokeswoman for the Budweiser Brewing Group to independent.ie.

'We evaluate our input costs and make necessary price adjustments on an ongoing basis while driving efficiencies in our business through sustainability and other initiatives.'

Diageo, who own Guinness and Johnnie Walker, chose not to share their wholesale prices but said they increased prices on Guinness back in June.

The average price of a pint of Guinness in Great Britain was £4.20 in June, up four per cent on the year before. In London the stout reached and average price of £4.73, up 3.8 per cent.

An email from Heineken seen by the MailOnline reads: 'Like many UK manufacturers, HEINEKEN UK is facing unprecedented cost increases on a number of critical inputs used to make and distribute Beer and Cider.

'This is predominantly driven by the significant rise in energy prices, which is also having a dramatic impact on the costs of other goods including glass, aluminum and malted barley.

'We are continually looking at ways to mitigate cost volatility and throughout the year we have taken a number of steps to drive greater efficiencies in our business. However, due to the scale of recent and ongoing input cost increases, it is necessary to change the price of our products.

'As a result, we will be increasing our wholesale selling prices by an average of 15.8%. The exact percentage per product is set out in the schedule here. This increase will be duty exclusive.'

The brewery also announced a new keg surcharge for the popular Birra Moretti brand at £1.20 per 50 litre kegs and £0.84 per 30 litre kegs.

Earlier this year Heineken bought craft brewery Beavertown for a sum thought to be more than £40million - but the brand does not appear on the list of beverages increasing in price in January.

In September, Paul Davies, CEO at Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company, suggested the fall of the pound may cause a rise in beer prices.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the drop was 'worrying' for the British beer industry, which imports beer and hops from overseas.

Ahead of the Chancellor’s Autumn statement on November 17, pubs and brewers have been calling for the beer duty freeze to be reinstated as costs continue to rise and beer sales start to slow.


17 November, 2022