Black Sheep Brewery to increase prices by 19.5%

Customers shared a letter sent from the brewery this week, detailing the company would be raising its published wholesale selling prices for all deliveries made on or after Monday 27 February.

Black Sheep Brewery​ CEO Charlene Lyons said: “These are incredibly challenging times for our industry and for breweries and pubs in particular. 

Turbulent times 

"We have resisted passing on considerable cost increases to our customers for some time and as a business we have absorbed as much as we can.

“In reality, cost increases could have been much higher, based on the huge rise in costs we are all trying to manage. 

“We have excellent relationships with our pub customers and continue to work closely with them in the best ways we can to support them through these turbulent times.”

Additionally, the letter stated the 19.5% increase excluded duty and that Black Sheep Business Development Managers (BDMs) would be conducting visits ahead of the changes to discuss price increases and encouraged customers with any queries to contact the brewery.

High impact energy business 

This comes as Lyons last month slammed the Governments new energy support package as “brutal” and claimed if operators were to keep up with rising costs, the price of a pint could exceed £10.

Speaking to The Morning Advertiser​, she said​: “As a high impact energy business​, we receive a higher rate of relief, but then the pubs don't.

“It's a really tough pill to swallow because you've got the brewery that loosely benefits, but there's no point having a brewery firing on all cylinders if you haven't got the capacity to sell beer because the pubs can't afford to open because they can't afford their energy bill.

“The fundamental package across the board is not great​. We're all going to be significantly worse off.”