The price hike is part of Stonegate’s 2025 selling prices review and will be effective on all deliveries from Friday 2 May.
Other products will also see increases. The weighted average duty inclusive selling price of cider will rise by 8.2% while wine and spirits will see a 6.9% and 6.6% uptick respectively.
The pub company, which is the UK’s largest, attributed the decision to a backdrop of “considerable economic uncertainty” both domestically and internationally.
It added the sector continues to be “disproportionately impacted” by high energy and employment costs.
Ongoing challenges
As a result, Stonegate asserted the cost of producing and distributing drinks has continued to rise, making the price hikes “necessary”.
A spokesman for Stonegate told The Morning Advertiser (The MA): “This increase reflects the significant inflationary pressures and ongoing challenges faced by our sector, as well as our ongoing commitment to partner with our publicans to enable them to continue to play a vital role in the communities they serve.
“This increase strikes the right balance in achieving these objectives.”
Communication sent to Stonegate Pub Partners, seen by The MA, stated the changes equated to a blended average duty inclusive of increases of circa 4.6% and a duty exclusive increase of 5.7%, based on the average mix of purchases.
Legislative changes
Earlier this month, the company’s latest trading update showed total revenue for the 53 weeks ended 29 September 2024 was £1.75bn compared to £1.72bn in the 52 weeks ended 24 September 2023.
However, Stonegate is not the only company to have increased prices due to rising production costs this year.
In January, Heineken announced it would be increasing the price of draught beer for the on-trade by 2.97%, exclusive of duty, due to legislative changes announced in the Autumn budget and inflationary pressure.
Meanwhile last month Diageo announced the price of some Guinness Draught products would increase by 4.2% for on-trade customers, effective from Thursday 1 May 2025.
Moreover, the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) recently warned the price of a pint in pubs could soon exceed £5 as a result of the legislative changes announced in October last year.
