Licensees face raft of beer price hikes in 2012

By Michelle Perrett

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Stella artois Marketing

Licensees face raft of beer price hikes in 2012
Licensees have entered 2012 facing a raft of price hikes from major brewers.

Wholesale drinks prices for 2012 have risen by as much as 9p a pint from some brewers, with many citing increased production, material, utility and duty costs.

Heineken UK will be raising the wholesale selling prices of its beers from 6 February. Its biggest-selling lager brand Foster’s will rise by £19.79 per barrel or 7p per pint at wholesale selling price. Its draught and packaged ciders prices increased this month, with the price of Strongbow up by £19.31 per barrel, which equates to just under 7p per pint.

Diageo is to up the price of Guinness Draught by 5% (excluding duty and VAT) and Guinness Surger by 7% (excluding Duty and VAT) on 1 February 2012.

Wells & Young’s has increased the wholesale selling price of its own brewed beers by 4.9% from this month.

For Charles Wells licensees, this rise will be absorbed until June 2012 then, a subsidised rise of 3.5% will be introduced.

The news comes after have Molson Coors increased wholesale prices to the on-trade by, on average, £19.99 per barrel, or 7p per pint.

And InBev UK, the Stella Artois, Budweiser and Beck’s brewer, increased the wholesale prices of its brands by 7.8% (duty exclusive) or 9p a pint this month due to increases in costs on raw materials and energy.

Related topics Beer Legislation

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