Brewers are encouraging licensees to up their game this Christmas to counteract the effects of a widening price gap between the on-trade and supermarkets.
Bulk buys of beer and spirits in the main retailers are set to get even cheaper in the next few weeks as the supermarket price wars heat up. Research by market analysts Verdict anticipates that off-trade prices will continue to decrease into the New Year, and brewers fear customers may be drawn away from pubs to drinking at home.
"The fact is consumers now choose to drink in the on-trade less often because they find the in-home occasion more appealing," said Colin Pedrick, InBev UK president. "The trade must respond.
"For the average pub to replicate the in-home experience, it has to offer everything that is available at home: a comfortable and safe environment plus high-quality food and drinks."
Supermarkets use alcohol as a footfall driver at Christmas, more so than at any other time of year. They are prepared to sell them at low prices and this is likely to remain the case for some time, a fact that Coors Brewers acknowledges.
"It's a market reality. It's something we have to live with and work out how to keep up with," said Coors head of communications Paul Hegarty.
Mr Hegarty stressed that pubs have a unique draw which drinking at home could not offer and that to keep customers happy, it was essential to get elements such as branded glassware and coldness right. "It's how to make the on-trade special so customers are thinking: 'this is better than drinking at home,'" he said.
Nigel Pollard, spokesman for Scottish Courage, said the recent move among brewers to reduce pack sizes to 20 or 18 in supermarkets could increase the value of off-trade sales.
However, he added that there was only so much the brewers could do at this level.
"Something's got to change. We are committed to putting value back in but ultimately the supermarkets are responsible for their prices," he said.