Minimum alcohol pricing is nigh

Thelonious Monk

https://www.thejournal.ie/minimum-alcohol-pricing-2-5104494-May2020

This hasn't gone away you know.
Right now I'm off booze and never want to drink again. But regardless, this law infuriates me more than anything else a government has done for as long as I can remember.
Do you think it will still pass? Why the f*ck are we putting up with this? Polls all say like 85 and 90% of people don't want it.

the beer revolu

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

https://www.thejournal.ie/minimum-alcohol-pricing-2-5104494-May2020

This hasn't gone away you know.
Right now I'm off booze and never want to drink again. But regardless, this law infuriates me more than anything else a government has done for as long as I can remember.
Do you think it will still pass? Why the f*ck are we putting up with this? Polls all say like 85 and 90% of people don't want it.

Obviously, a good time to kick an industry in the balls, while it's on its knees.

The alcohol manufacturing industry is in serious trouble at the moment.

elperello

I can't see it coming in this year what with the double whammy of Covid 19 and Brexit.

If FF,FG and Greens form a Government I hope wiser counsel will prevail and they won't want to unnecessarily upset too many people in the vortex of the two crises.

da_miser

elperello wrote: »

I can't see it coming in this year what with the double whammy of Covid 19 and Brexit.

If FF,FG and Greens form a Government I hope wiser counsel will prevail and they won't want to unnecessarily upset too many people in the vortex of the two crises.

Got to keep the natives sedated with drink as the economy crashes, sober people more likely to be politically active than those drowning their sorrows, when the USSR collapsed they purposely kept the price of alcohol low while everything else skyrocketed, make the hard times a little easier to bare

Edgware

da_miser wrote: »

Got to keep the natives sedated with drink as the economy crashes, sober people more likely to be politically active than those drowning their sorrows, when the USSR collapsed they purposely kept the price of alcohol low while everything else skyrocketed, make the hard times a little easier to bare

Them damm Commies knew how to do it

Reputable Rog

That article is complete rubbish, if anything off sales prices have rocketed in the last 2 months.

Shelflife

Reputable Rog wrote: »

That article is complete rubbish, if anything off sales prices have rocketed in the last 2 months.

Agree, I dont know how Mckinny gets away with quoting those figures around without being challenged.

I have an off licence and virtually across the the board prices have gone up as the drink companies simply cant keep up with demand.

Guinness went up 13%, Heineken up 13% and Carling went up over 17%.

Quantity deals went out the window as in pallet pricing or bulk buying discounts were pulled.

Most of the bigger supermarkets focused on simply getting the product in and simply stopped all their alcohol deals.

da_miser

I have seen the document the Vinters association put out a few week ago on their plans to reopen.
In a nut shell they want all taxes/rates/levies abolished for the rest of the year, some to even carry into next year, not a penny to be paid in tax by pubs to help them get going again.
If they get what they want, why would any other business be happy to pay their taxes?

Leroy42

Shelflife wrote: »

Agree, I dont know how Mckinny gets away with quoting those figures around without being challenged.

I have an off licence and virtually across the the board prices have gone up as the drink companies simply cant keep up with demand.

Guinness went up 13%, Heineken up 13% and Carling went up over 17%.

Quantity deals went out the window as in pallet pricing or bulk buying discounts were pulled.

Most of the bigger supermarkets focused on simply getting the product in and simply stopped all their alcohol deals.

Rubbish supply and demand? You think their supply can't cope? Come off it. Every pub in the country is closed!

It purely profit taking. Why offer deals when you don't have to? Both the distributor and the shops.

Reputable Rog

Leroy42 wrote: »

Rubbish supply and demand? You think their supply can't cope? Come off it. Every pub in the country is closed!

It purely profit taking. Why offer deals when you don't have to? Both the distributor and the shops.

It’s kind of hilarious because I drive past Heineken every week day between 7-8 am and whilst the keg trucks you normally see around Cork and Limerick aren’t out the other trucks are moving out in force.

randomname2005

Leroy42 wrote: »

Rubbish supply and demand? You think their supply can't cope? Come off it. Every pub in the country is closed!

It purely profit taking. Why offer deals when you don't have to? Both the distributor and the shops.

Need to shift from kegs to bottles/cans. Change in distribution and logistics. But haven't noticed much increase locally in Irish craft beer

Leroy42

randomname2005 wrote: »

Need to shift from kegs to bottles/cans. Change in distribution and logistics. But haven't noticed much increase locally in Irish craft beer

That doesn't necessitate a 13% price increase, particularly when lots of their other costs are down.

It's pure profit taking, by retailers as well. They should, given the sudden closure of pubs, have plenty of supply.

Shelflife

Leroy42 wrote: »

That doesn't necessitate a 13% price increase, particularly when lots of their other costs are down.

It's pure profit taking, by retailers as well. They should, given the sudden closure of pubs, have plenty of supply.

They have plenty of product but struggling to get packaging .

I’m simply quoting the price increases that I’ve had to
pay comparing cost prices in March and prices Im currently paying now. I’ve passed on most of the increases but can’t pass it all on , so my margin is down.

Can’t talk about other retailers margins but I know they are all struggling to keep products in stock.

Guinness sales way up and they are struggling big time to keep up with demand.

kerryjack

12 to 14 euros for 8 cans still great value better than a box of sleeping tablets and the farts keep the wife away win win. Ya the die hard Guinness drinkers had to hit the cans I always liked the cans but got a tip for the perfect can, put pint glass in freezer for 15 minute makes a big difference In my humble opinion.

murphyebass

kerryjack wrote: »

12 to 14 euros for 8 cans still great value better than a box of sleeping tablets and the farts keep the wife away win win. Ya the die hard Guinness drinkers had to hit the cans I always liked the cans but got a tip for the perfect can, put pint glass in freezer for 15 minute makes a big difference In my humble opinion.

15 mins in the freezer so you can’t taste the beer. Nice.

Capt'n Midnight

Something about 40% of pubs planning to reopen as restaurants for Phase 3 - June 29 rather than as pubs in Phase 5 - August 10

How much drinking up till will be allowed after the meal ?
How many rounds would you be able to get in before the meal. Maybe people will be complaining about how the service is too fast ?

Nursing a pint will not put the casual drinker in the good books.
So I'd also expect a little of this https://asset.soup.io/asset/14932/4722_f5d0_500.jpeg

Capt'n Midnight

murphyebass wrote: »

15 mins in the freezer so you can’t taste the beer. Nice.

If you are going down that road where you can't taste it then Aldi's Galahad is the way to go.

Makes Dutch Gold look way over priced.

When offered a beer, accept even if it's not "your brand". Your favorite brand of beer is "free". Your second favorite is "cold".



Home drinking means pub drinkers have been exposed to supermarket prices. Be interesting to see how overall consumption has changed see (wholesale figures or revenue) especially when you consider that people can't go to cinemas, ice skating etc. instead of going to the pub or nightclub.


MUP means enticing people back to the pub which shouldn't be encouraged until the need for social distancing has passed.

double jobbing

Thelonious Monk wrote: »

https://www.thejournal.ie/minimum-alcohol-pricing-2-5104494-May2020

This hasn't gone away you know.
Right now I'm off booze and never want to drink again. But regardless, this law infuriates me more than anything else a government has done for as long as I can remember.
Do you think it will still pass? Why the f*ck are we putting up with this? Polls all say like 85 and 90% of people don't want it.

Simon Harris really is a c'unt. Country financially crippled and he wants us paying more.

Tuborg already upped their price by 50 cent per 4 pack in anticipation of this.

Capt'n Midnight

MUP is just a mechanism to line the pockets of the distributors of branded drinks and supermarkets for non-branded drinks.This they'll be able to spend more on ads and promotions and pub refurbishments and lobbying.

MUP will not deliver a single cent extra to the health services. Ever.


There are already lower excise duty rates for microbreweries and beers and ciders with lower than 2.8% alcohol content. So mechanisms to have different rates have been in place for years.


A better alternative to MUP would be to increase the excise duty across the board and have lower duty for pubs, restaurants and other places for served drinks.

Muahahaha

Whats the status of MUP at the moment, did it pass that legal challenge in Scotland? Would imagine the publicans will be using the crises to get it rammed through if they can along with a VAT reduction

Quackster

I disagree, the "drinking problems" are myths from the government.

Muahahaha wrote: »

Whats the status of MUP at the moment, did it pass that legal challenge in Scotland? Would imagine the publicans will be using the crises to get it rammed through if they can along with a VAT reduction

Yep, it passed the legal test in Scotland and, as of March this year, is now law in Wales as well.

Potential-Monke

The article states that most main brand alcohol won't go up as it's already above the MUP. Only the cheaper stuff and higher alcohol content stuff will be affected. So I'd find it a bit sad if someone drove over the border to save a few euro on cheap alcohol.

I see no harm in it. Drink is way too cheap in off licences, and if we actually did care about the health of drinkers, we shouldn't be making it as easy and as cheap as it currently is. I think it was mentioned somewhere in this thread, but if the cost of drink at home is similar to the cost in pubs, more people are likely to go to the pubs. Are the VFI in support of this? (A quick Google suggests they are).

odyssey06

Potential-Monke wrote: »

The article states that most main brand alcohol won't go up as it's already above the MUP. Only the cheaper stuff and higher alcohol content stuff will be affected.

Article is wrong on that. RRP mighty be above MUP but not promo prices.

I see no harm in it. Drink is way too cheap in off licences, and if we actually did care about the health of drinkers, we shouldn't be making it as easy and as cheap as it currently is. I think it was mentioned somewhere in this thread, but if the cost of drink at home is similar to the cost in pubs, more people are likely to go to the pubs. Are the VFI in support of this? (A quick Google suggests they are).

It's not cheap, in comparison with other western EU countries or the UK, which is what we usually compare ourselves to on pricing.

The interaction between alcohol and health is complex, as all risks mortality studies have shown. Are there no problem drinkers in pubs? No drink drivers coming home from pubs? You'll have to come up with some actual arguments here, "if we actually cared" is not an argument worthy of any respect, it's a pretty tired debating tactic, trying to paint people opposed to this measure as somehow less caring. Why not throw in a "will someone please think of the children"?
There's no link between good intentions and actual outcomes and a lot of the thinking behind this legislation has nothing to do with good intentions, it's about vintners and retailers lining their pockets and some puritans on a power grab.

Does Ireland have more or less alcohol related health issues than France, where drink prices are already lower in supermarkets and pubs than in Ireland?

Are the VFI in support of this? Have you been reading this thread? Why do you think it has gotten so much traction?

YFlyer

Would 4 cans if Linden Village for €6 be expensive compared to elsewhere?

Hotblack Desiato

Potential-Monke wrote: »

The article states that most main brand alcohol won't go up as it's already above the MUP. Only the cheaper stuff and higher alcohol content stuff will be affected.

This is complete bollox, as the minimum price is 2 euro for a 500mL can/bottle of beer. Which is outrageous. They won't dare implement this in the depths of the corona recession we're staring into. It'd be both electoral and economic suicide. MUP is a policy of arrogant **** riding high on a buoyant economy with little else to be worrying about.

odyssey06

YFlyer wrote: »

Would 4 cans if Linden Village for €6 be expensive compared to elsewhere?

That works out at €3 per litre, €2.50 a litre if you get the 2L bottle.

In Carrefour France you can get cider bottles for €1.60 a litre, before 10am!
* This part of the story is true

I had to fight my way through the drinks aisle past drunken louts to purchase a (nice) bottle of wine for €3...
* This part of the story is not true, but exists in the fever dream of some MUP proponents

Geuze

Potential-Monke wrote: »

I see no harm in it. Drink is way too cheap in off licences, and if we actually did care about the health of drinkers, we shouldn't be making it as easy and as cheap as it currently is.

Where is this "way too cheap" drink you speak of?


50cl of beer starts at 29c in Germany.

Bottles of spirits from 10 euro in Lidl Germany:

https://www.lidl-flyer.com/beste-weine-fur-jeden-anlass-30-04-2020-31-05-2020/view/flyer/page/20?_ga=2.23769786.1473263943.1590405183-1404584930.1590405183

ohnonotgmail

Geuze wrote: »

Where is this "way too cheap" drink you speak of?


50cl of beer starts at 29c in Germany.

Bottles of spirits from 10 euro in Lidl Germany:

https://www.lidl-flyer.com/beste-weine-fur-jeden-anlass-30-04-2020-31-05-2020/view/flyer/page/20?_ga=2.23769786.1473263943.1590405183-1404584930.1590405183

yeah but us Irish are all desperate alcoholics and need to be protected from ourselves. the germans dont have any issues with alcoholism at all.

Patrick2010

double jobbing wrote: »

Simon Harris really is a c'unt. Country financially crippled and he wants us paying more.

Tuborg already upped their price by 50 cent per 4 pack in anticipation of this.

5 euro for a 4 pack in my local shop still

YFlyer

london bus 200 wrote: »

LETS AGREE AND SAY, LOK A IT YHE OTHER WAY ANDU AND I HAVE HAVE GOT THIS GOT COMPLETELY, WRONG, ITS THE WAY TEH ENTIRE WORLD FUNTIONS, WE CANT JUST HAVE A BUNCH OF CITIXENS AND WE KNOW NOHTING ABOUT THEM,

What the fu.ck?