‘Drinkflation’ comes for the British pint. Brewers sell weaker beer but don’t cut prices

LONDON –

Brewers within the United Kingdom are slicing the alcohol content material — however not the value — of a number of of their hottest beers in what’s been described as one other instance of “shrinkflation.”

Greene King, a significant UK brewer and pub chain, has lower the ABV, or alcohol content material, of its in style Old Speckled Hen pale ale to 4.8% from 5%, a spokesperson for Greene King advised CNN.

In March, the nation’s oldest brewer, Shepherd Neame, slashed the ABV of its bottled Spitfire and Bishops Finger ales to 4.2% and 5.2% respectively, from 4.5% and 5.4%, a spokesperson mentioned.

The Mail on Sunday newspaper, which revealed an investigation Sunday, mentioned the brewers had stored the dimensions of their bottles and cans intact, with the identical quantity of liquid, however slashed the quantity of alcohol.

It mentioned this “drinkflation” mirrored “shrinkflation” — the follow of meals producers and supermarkets decreasing the dimensions of their merchandise with out slicing costs.

Since, below UK regulation, brewers pay much less tax on drinks with a decrease alcohol content material, the newspaper claimed that the businesses had pocketed this saving slightly than passing it onto clients by way of decrease costs.

But the spokesperson for Greene King advised CNN that decreasing the ABV had merely helped offset a few of its rising prices, following years of “inflationary pressures on raw materials, packaging costs and energy prices.”

Cutting the ABV “lowers the [tax] we pay without noticeably affecting the beer’s flavor,” the spokesperson mentioned.

The spokesperson for Shepherd Neame advised CNN that it had lowered the ABV content material of its beers to “expand their appeal” as shoppers have been “increasingly choosing drinks with a lower alcohol content as part of a healthy lifestyle.”

The spokesperson additionally mentioned the brewer had seen “significant increases” in the price of its uncooked supplies, corresponding to vitality and glass, and had, because of this, elevated the costs on all of its beers.

In January, Dutch brewer Heineken lowered the ABV content material of Foster’s bigger — which it sells within the UK — to three.7% from 4%.

A spokesperson for the brewer’s UK business advised CNN that it had carried out so as a result of “consumers are increasingly choosing lower-ABV products as part of a balanced lifestyle,” however added that it had skilled “unprecedented cost increases.”

Stubborn inflation

Emma McClarkin, chief govt of the British Beer and Pub Association, mentioned that, regardless of UK inflation cooling, companies have been “still very much feeling the pinch,” and have been merely discovering methods to soak up larger prices.

“Brewers have faced mounting price increases across supply chains in the past two years and, as far as possible, they have absorbed costs to avoid customers paying over the odds for their beer,” McClarkin mentioned.

Consumer value inflation within the UK stays stubbornly excessive, reaching 8.7% in April. Inflation has fallen again in latest months, however nonetheless clocks in larger than in another nation within the Group of Seven.

Former Bank of England Governor Mark Carney advised The Daily Telegraph newspaper Friday that Brexit was a “unique aspect” of the UK financial system that helped clarify why its inflation remained so excessive.

“We laid out in advance of Brexit that [it would create] a negative supply shock for a period of time and the consequence of that will be a weaker pound, higher inflation and weaker growth,” he mentioned.

Carney mentioned he didn’t enjoy saying “we told you so,” as thousands and thousands of abnormal Britons have been now paying the value.