JDW serving pints for under £1.50
Some 763 (about 88% of its estate) of JDW pubs are serving Ruddles Best and in some pubs, Greene King IPA, for £1.49.
This is more than 50% less than the average cost of a pint, according to official figures from the Office of National Statistics, which revealed the average price was £3.96 as of January 2022.
JDW founder and chairman Tim Martin said: “Our pubs have always offered a great choice of real ale at excellent prices.
“At a time when prices are increasing on almost everything, we are delighted to be able to buck the trend.
“The last time a pint of beer averaged less than £1.50 was in 1992, which makes our beer unbeatable value.”
Trading update
This follows the company reporting its latest trading update and stating it was remaining “cautiously optimistic” about the future.
Like for like sales for the business fell by 0.4% in the first four weeks of quarter four of the current financial year.
This was compared to the same pre-pandemic period in 2019, according to the trading update announcement from the company. However, this was an improvement on the previous quarter when sales were down by 4%.
The most recent quarter also saw a rise in cocktail sales (up 18.6%), spirits (4.4%), food (2.1%), accommodation (8.4%) and fruit/slot machines (up 16.6%).
Sales figures
However, draught ales, lagers and ciders sales were 8% lower than the same period three years ago.
The update also reiterated calls for tax equality between the on and off-trade, cutting supermarkets paying zero VAT for food sales compared to pubs paying 20%.
It went on to outline how this disparity means supermarkets are able to subsidise the price of alcohol, to the detriment of pubs alongside the fact the off-trade pay lower businesses per pint than the on-trade.
It said until tax equality is in force, “pubs will always be fighting with one hand tied behind their back and will provide less in the way of jobs or taxes than they otherwise might”.
