Campaign to reduce 'unjustified' half pint prices

A motion at CAMRA’s AGM in April flagged the issue and gained support from members, and now the national executive is consulting on the best way to take the campaign forward. It is also calling on branches, members and drinkers to highlight the worst examples of this practice.

A spokesman told the PMA: “CAMRA members indicated that they thought the practice of charging substantially more, proportionally, for a half pint of beer was unfair and penalised those trying to drink responsibly, or who wanted to try higher strength beers in smaller quantities.

“CAMRA completely understands that there may be a need for a few pence difference in the proportional cost of half and full pints, but members have reported examples of half pints costing 50p more than the proportional cost of a pint - which we don’t believe can be justified.

“We’d also encourage licensees to clearly display prices, especially if the cost of a half pint is substantially different to the proportional cost of a pint.”

The BBPA said the pub experience involved more than a price of the drink and consumers would appreciate that.

Chief executive Brigid Simmonds said: “In a competitive market, it must be up to licensees to determine the price of any pub drink.

“Half pints can be more than half the price of a pint for a number of reasons - the cost to licensees of serving half a pint is not necessarily half that of serving a pint.”