UK: Brewery jobs under threat as raw material prices rocket

Rising raw material costs threaten hundreds of brewery and pub jobs, The Publican reported November 14.

Hundreds of jobs in the country’s breweries and pubs are under threat as raw material prices rocket.

According to the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), the cost of barley has risen 40 per cent this year, and some varieties of hops have doubled in price as growers assess the damage caused by the recent wet weather.

Peter Amor, chairman of SIBA, said the price rises threatened jobs both in breweries and in pubs throughout the country, just when the industry faced calls for higher taxes on beer to combat binge-drinking.

“After wages, raw materials represent the biggest single expenditure by small brewers, who now face the dilemma of whether to put up their prices and lose trade or absorb the higher costs and take the risk of their businesses becoming economically unsound,” said Amor, whose family runs the Wye Valley Brewery in Hereford.

“Beer is one of few things we still make in Britain and much of it is the traditional draught variety sold in pubs that are supervised by trained licensees.

“The good old British pub, an institution of which we should be so proud, is not, by and large, the culprit in binge drinking.

“We should remember that some supermarkets are selling alcoholic drinks at less than cost price and have no control over the subsequent behaviour of their customers.”

16 November, 2007