JD Wetherspoon ups prices as soft drink sales rise
Prices are up from 5-10% on the morning menu, with a full English now at £3.25 from £2.99 and a cup of tea or coffee now setting customers back £1.10, up from 99p.
But top-selling beer brand prices will remain the same, the pubco has reported.
The price hikes came as JDW reported a rise in sales of non-alcoholic sugar-free drinks.
Sugar tax
Founder Tim Martin argued that, because more than half (59%) of soft drinks, tea and coffee sold are sugar-free, a tax on sugar in drinks is ‘illogical’.
He said: “In my opinion the figures show that taxing sugar in drinks is illogical unless you go further and tax desserts, chocolate, birthday cakes and other products that contain sugar.
“In addition, the views concerning the apparent unhealthy characteristics of food are uncertain and are often based on fashion, not science.
“Eggs, for example, were regarded as unhealthy for decades, but the advice has since been reversed. Had the government imposed a tax on eggs, an injustice would have been compounded.
“Since vast areas of pseudo-medical advice concerning food have been overturned in recent years, legislators should tread warily before imposing extra taxes.”
JD Wetherspoon average weekly soft and hot drink sales 25 Jan-21 Feb:
Low Sugar: | |
Coffee & Tea | 890,476 |
Cola & Lemonade | 309,366 |
Water | 42,546 |
Tonic Water | 20,412 |
Other low sugar drinks | 16,191 |
Total | 1,278,991 |
Contains Sugar: | |
Cola | 372,059 |
Bottled & Canned Soft Drinks | 229,813 |
Fruit Juices | 158,756 |
Hot Chocolate, Mocha & Iced Tea etc | 82,054 |
Cordials | 63,773 |
Total | 906,455 |
Total hot and soft drinks | 2,185,446 |