'InBev hikes up price of a pint and feels Scots' wrath'

Scotland's publicans are angry at plans by InBev to increase prices for the second time in four months. The owners of Tennent Caledonian will put 3p on the price of a pint as of September, possibly forcing some Scottish publicans out of business, according to Dan McGilvray, operations director of Alchemy Inns. - The Times ​

CVC Capital Partners, the private equity group, has been considering making a takeover approach to Punch Taverns, the pubs operator which has seen its share price fall by more than 70 per cent during the past year. - The Telegraph​

Sake is becoming a drink of choice for style-conscious drinkers of London, New York and, increasingly, Moscow and Beijing. But, since peaking at sales of 1.7m kilolitres in 1975, sake consumption in its home, Japan has fallen every year since 1995 to a record low of 700,000 kilolitres in 2006. - The Guardian ​

Beer sales may be down but one effect of the credit crunch, say some reports, is that Viagra sales are on the up as people whose sex lives have been blighted by financial worries look to the wonder drug. The Independent ​

Young women are now getting botox, chemical peels, teeth whitening and vein removal to remove the signs of drinking and smoking. British beauticians Belisimma, who offer the treatments in the party-island of Ibiza, said: "Most of our clients are British girls who have good jobs, money to spend and are here to party. Their faces are obviously affected by the amount they drink, smoke and sunbathe. They want to do all those things but still look good." Daily Mail​

Middle class Swedes are increasingly buying booze from the back of black-market vans in order to by pass the high prices at Systembolaget, the state-owned alcohol monopoly. Free market-minded entrepreneurs use the argument that that Sweden should be opened to competition. - Financial Times ​

Many Britons are now taking time off from worrying about the high cost of food and fuel to complain about the low cost of drink. Publicans have played into their hands: on July 28 the British Beer & Pub Association, admitted that it had withdrawn its guidelines to members on "responsible promotions", citing legal advice that such guidance might breach competition rules. - Opinion piece in this week's Economist​.