With the prices of just about everything rising at the moment, the cost of living crisis is now hitting pubs with one brewer warning that £7 pints could become the norm in cities. I think I’m going to cry.
Alan Mahon, founder and CEO of Brewgooder, has said a ‘perfect storm’ of inflation and rising production costs, driven by the conflict in Ukraine, will hit the industry hard and leave brewers little choice but to up their prices.
Mahon said the cost of ingredients such as wheat and barley, used to make beer, were rising faster than the rate of inflation.
And, much like the rest of us, brewers were also struggling with ‘soaring’ energy prices.
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Mahon told the Daily Mail: “I used to think ‘perfect storm’ was a cliche until we found ourselves slap bang in the middle of what the industry is facing right now.
“It is perhaps a greater long-term challenge than that created by rolling covid lockdowns.
“On the brewery side, raw material prices for the likes of wheat and barley are rising faster than the average rate of inflation, and consumers can perhaps understand that.
“What is less visible but equally as important is the things that don't often come to drinkers mind when they think of what goes into beer - such as the eye-watering explosion in carbon dioxide prices which is 3000 percent higher than 12 months ago, on top of soaring energy prices, a pain everyone is feeling right now.”
He went on to suggest that pubs and bars may have to push their prices to £7 a pint to keep up with spiralling costs.
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“From what we are seeing, the pressures on the industry with cost price inflation challenges and the Chancellor's scrapping of the alcohol duty freeze might make a £7 pint the norm rather than the exception in many places - particularly in bigger cities,” he continued.
“This is bound to make a pint a relative luxury for a lot of people, something we should all be concerned about and force us all to take stock of the challenges facing the beer industry.”
Mahon, who co-founded Brewgooder in 2016, said alongside the rise in costs, venues were seeing less footfall as punters had to make ‘difficult choices’ and where and how to spend their cash, with many of us being forced to tighten our belts.
Earlier this year, a study suggested that the price of a pint in London could set you back £13.98 by 2025.
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Topics: UK News, Food And Drink