Carlsberg and Heineken unveil price increases

By Michelle Perrett

- Last updated on GMT

Rising costs: brewers Carlsberg and Heineken unveil beer price increases
Rising costs: brewers Carlsberg and Heineken unveil beer price increases

Related tags Cost

Carlsberg and Heineken are the latest brewers to unveil beer price increases for 2017.

Carlsberg prices are increasing by 2.6% on average across the board. In addition to the Carlsberg portfolio, other brands affected by the price hike include Tuborg, Tetley’s, Holsten Pils, Skol and San Miguel.

Meanwhile, Heineken said it would see an average price increase of 6p per pint across its brands with a 6.6p or 3.6% increase for Foster’s. 

As well as Heineken, its brands include Desperados, Kronenbourg, Deuchers IPA and John Smith’s.

Both brewers said they had faced increased costs and were unable to absorb all of these within their businesses.

Earlier this month, Molson Coors and AB InBev both revealed average price increases of 2.4% and 2.3% respectively.

Carlsberg UK vice-president of independent free trade Per Svendsen said: “We recognise that an increase in pricing is challenging, especially in the context of a competitive trading environment.

"We have worked very hard to mitigate significant cost challenges – which are in play across the food and drink industry. Unfortunately, we have not been able to absorb all of these cost increases in their entirety – notably some of the costs of our imported brands and raw materials – and our new pricing reflects this.”

“This year, we will continue to enhance our portfolio to ensure our customers have access to a fantastic drinks range including Brooklyn Brewery’s craft portfolio, Celia Lager – a small-batch brew, gluten-free organic Czech lager – and an enhanced Crown Cellars wine and spirits portfolio.

"This is in addition to an extensive portfolio of speciality beers from our Tapster’s choice and Crafted ranges, and bold new revitalisation project for Carlsberg, led by Carlsberg Export.”

A spokesman for Heineken said: “We review our on-trade wholesale selling prices (WSPs) on an annual basis to address any increases in our own costs, and pressures from prevailing economic conditions. This year, our review will see an average increase of around 6p per pint (for example, our WSP on Foster’s will increase by 6.6p per pint).

“We fully appreciate that raising prices is never a popular move and we always seek to absorb as much as we can before passing on increases to our trade customers. Our increase also reflects the very comprehensive investment programme we continue to undertake, bringing new and exciting premium drinks to the market; attracting new customers to the on-trade and improving draught cider and beer quality.”

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