What's your local charging for a pint now?

the beer revolu

Geuze wrote: »

A publican told me about an Irish pub chain that gets discounts on beer due to volumes, but maintains high prices, and so makes 80% gross margin on beer.

And I believe everything that a publican tells me, too! Especially when it's bitching about the competition!

Northernlily

Chronic.

This opportunism won't go down well with drinkers. There will be a short term high from it as people reacquaint with one another but footfall will fall off as people elect to drink at home.

Creamy Goodness

Northernlily wrote: »

Chronic.

This opportunism won't go down well with drinkers. There will be a short term high from it as people reacquaint with one another but footfall will fall off as people elect to drink at home.

same was said when a pint of Guinness hit €4, then again at €5. Yeah you'll lose some people but it's not as many as you think it will be.

L1011

Go back long enough and you'll find it for 50p (still thought of as the lowest banknote, 10/-, though that was long gone) and £1 and every major price point since

Alcohol consumption is declining anyway and not in step with affordability

BeerNut

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

same was said when a pint of Guinness hit €4, then again at €5. Yeah you'll lose some people but it's not as many as you think it will be.

I remember it being said when the price of Guinness hit £2, and am told it was a bigger deal when the pint hit £1. Doubtless it goes back further than that. It has never been a problem for the big breweries and there's no reason to suppose it will be now.

machiavellianme

silver2020 wrote: »

you obviously don't understand MUP in any way shape or form

BTW- hope you never go to Paris for a pint. You'll think Temple Bar is bargain basement.

Really? What part of MUP don't I understand? You make such a broad sweeping statement but don't elaborate on your point?
Do you think that forcing the likes of Dutch Gold to be at a set minimum price in supermarkets won't be taken as an opportunity for all alcohol across the range to be increased relatively in price so as to maintain the "premium" feel for other brands? Don't tell me that you are naive enough to think that the publicans won't take advantage also? MUP is an insidious attempt to get folk back into pubs, but it's also an opportunity to say that cans aren't as tasty as the lovely draught pint we serve, so pucker up and pay for that privilege and while you're at it, pay for the extra heating and sanitising etc that Diageo has sponsored for us.

MUP is nothing to do with health and everything to do with price gouging. Whatever price increases happen now will be extended come MUP. It's a double whammy. Just like when we adopted the euro and prices began to spiral.

BTW, my family are part French and there's plenty of cheap prices in Paris. You must not have strayed far from the tourist traps? Or maybe you were confusing it with Cafe en Seine? Dublin prices are on a par with Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen now, but without the high wages and quality of life that Scandinavia offers.

the beer revolu

Creamy Goodness wrote: »

same was said when a pint of Guinness hit €4, then again at €5. Yeah you'll lose some people but it's not as many as you think it will be.

I knew an old fella in West Cork who said he'd follow the pint up to £1. He was a bachelor and enjoyed a few pints daily. (when I knew him he'd already stopped)
When the price breached £1, he stopped going to the pub - depriving himself of one of the few pleasures and social outlets that he had.
He died leaving plenty of money. His relatives spent the money he was too mean to.

Some people have always thought that pints are too expensive and I suspect they always will.

adam240610

5.50 for Guinness 5.90 for most others, and 6 for Wicklow wolf in Greystones

€4.30 in Cottage Bar, Buncrana

Geuze

the beer revolu wrote: »

And I believe everything that a publican tells me, too! Especially when it's bitching about the competition!

Yes, fair enough, it was bar counter talk.

However, there is/are pub chains in Ireland that have enough scale to get larger discounts than normal, and who don't pass that onto customers (unlike JD Wspoons).

So although 80% does sound high, I tend to believe there is some truth to it.

I hear 60% gross margins on drink are possible in well run pubs.

the beer revolu

Geuze wrote: »

Yes, fair enough, it was bar counter talk.

However, there is/are pub chains in Ireland that have enough scale to get larger discounts than normal, and who don't pass that onto customers (unlike JD Wspoons).

So although 80% does sound high, I tend to believe there is some truth to it.

I hear 60% gross margins on drink are possible in well run pubs.

I think people misunderstand gross profit margin.
Let's ignore vat for simplicity.

If I buy at €2 and sell for €5, I make 60% gp.
To get 80% gp, I'd need to sell at €10.

ie 80% of the selling price is profit.

Or, I'd need to buy at €1 and sell for €5 to make 80%

garrettod

BeerNut wrote: »

On the other hand the market has no real competition and seemingly rock-solid price inelasticity. Given that, why would prices go anywhere but up?

Well, seeing as you've raised the question, how about this...

People have spent most of the last 15-18 months drinking at home, installing fancy garden furniture, mini bars, big screen TVs etc. So they go a little further down that route and have friends over more often, throw more house or garden parties, rather than meeting their friends in the pub?

The booze would be significantly cheaper, the craic could be just as good, and the rip off merchants operating in the pub trade lose a lot of business.

I'm far from anti publican btw, and I do really like pubs, but I'm sick of the way some publicans take every opportunity to rip us all off, so think it's time we all start fighting back with boycotts of the relevant pubs etc.

antimatterx

garrettod wrote: »

Well, seeing as you've raised the question, how about this...

People have spent most of the last 15-18 months drinking at home, installing fancy garden furniture, mini bars, big screen TVs etc. So they go a little further down that route and have friends over more often, throw more house or garden parties, rather than meeting their friends in the pub?

The booze would be significantly cheaper, the craic could be just as good, and the tip off merchants operating in the pub trade lose a lot of business.

I'm far from anti publican btw, and I do really like pubs, but I'm sick of the way some publicans take every opportunity to rip us all off.

Yeah one of my mates got a log cabin in his back garden and it's vastly superior then going to pubs.

The DayDream

Irish people boycotting pubs. Yeah that will happen. I don't go to them any more much myself but there are legions of thirsty bantasaurus rex's out there who will be happy to pay.

Everything in this country is a rip off. but alcohol isn't a necessity and it's got a minimum price now - it's not really that good a drug to be worth it once you get older. I dont miss it much, i like going to new ones outside of my home town when i get to go away. But for every one of me there's plenty new drinkers being born every day. It may be declining, but I think theyll do all right. I don't think the pubs are ever gonna be short of people in this country. Especially after they been stuck inside for ages. It rains so much here if you don't want to stay inside every night where do you go?

garrettod

The DayDream wrote: »

Irish people boycotting pubs. Yeah that will happen.....

Not all pubs, just the ones that are blatently screwing is all over.

Twee.

€5.50 in Inchicore, seems about the Dublin standard. Haven't been to the smaller, off the main road local yet so be interesting to see their price.

On MUP, the Public Health Act that it's under is around since 2018, so it's not a covid recovery measure. There are tons of problems with MUP, but it's not an overnight job my any means.

garrettod

irish_goat wrote: »

You need more staff per covers, you'll have less customers but you need more staff to serve them as someone has to run in and out with the drinks and the orders. A lot of pubs now also have a member of staff front of house keeping an eye on bookings/showing people to tables.

Most pubs in Derry definitely didn't have table service before either.

The extra staff that you refer to are temporary, if they are there at all - the pubs will be back serving indoors in a month or so.

Anyway,the various points that I raised in the original post that you've quoted from more than offset any short term Southall cost for a few extra table staff. So there's absoutely no way it justifies the price hikes that some pubs are sneaking in.

BeerNut

garrettod wrote: »

how about this...

People have spent most of the last 15-18 months drinking at home, installing fancy garden furniture, mini bars, big screen TVs etc. So they go a little further down that route and have friends over more often, throw more house or garden parties, rather than meeting their friends in the pub?

By and large, no they haven't. An insignificantly small number of people have done that. This is the same argument as "everyone will turn to homebrew". No they won't. Some people might, but they don't figure on Diageo's balance sheets so they literally don't count.

tayto lover

My local put the prices up by an average of 50c.
They can keep it.
€4.90 for a pint is overpriced imo.

The Buster

I see prices gone up in my local as well. From €4.30 to €4.70. Probably a bit more than i expected but will not put me off visiting them.

It is over 2 years (i know they were closed for 1 of them) since the last price increase so in normal times the price would probablhave increased to around €4.50 anyway. Probably the right time to increase - easier to raise prices when most customers are so happy to have you open and to get a table that they will pay anything you charge them! Typically when the usual 10 cent increase was made the owner woulld have to listen to the locals moaning about it for at least a month - I used to love listening to it. One of the aul lads used to always come in with exact change for 3 pints at old price and there was always a semi stand off when he would leave to go home after the second pint as he was 30 cent short on the last drink and the publician would "reluctantly" let him off with the 30 cent. While i am delighted to have the pub open, I still really miss the banter of sitting at the counter of a small town or country pub

On the other hand now they have increased the prices and the cost of a pint is more then I expected they better not raise them again for at least 2 years

Black Sheep

I was at a community sports event last night, kind of a family thing, that has seen people bringing their own beers and wines the last few weeks and drinking them on blankets and so on. It's been very civilised.

The club bar is now open again, however, but they're requiring people to sit at designated tables for the table service.

The "BYOB" crowd were allowed to go ahead with it last night. I only had two beers with me, and gave one away, so a bit of a non issue for me. But I can see that going forward it's likely that it's going to start to be policed as normal i.e if you are consuming your own drink on the grounds you'd be asked to leave.

I know people continue to drink on beaches and seafronts at the moment, but the enforcement of by laws is likely to accelerate now that there are other options available.

On the whole I can't say I will be sorry to see and end to piles of cans and bottles discarded on the seafront, in parks, in laneways and so on. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the lack of public toilet facilities I also won't be sorry to see the back of all the lads pissing and even ****ting in public. Took a walk down the back lane at the rear of our house a few weeks ago and there was 'dog****' there where some savant 'dog' had actually managed to wipe its own arse with some pocket tissues and leave them in a neat pile next to their poo. The laneway backs onto a field near a pub that serves takeaway drinks. I would hazard a guess the 'dog' got caught short in a #2 situation.

I know it might be cheaper to drink al fresco, and potentially the setting might even be nicer, but funnelling people into a licensed premises environment where someone is cleaning up after them, where there are toilet facilities, and where someone is accountable for the safety of the patrons is probably for the best.

Adyx

We haven't put up our prices since last year and even then it was the first time in a couple of years. I wish we were getting a 60/70/80% gp on draught. If I had my own pub I'd be seriously considering doing away with it.

zefer

garrettod wrote: »

Was that yesterday?

... I didn't think they were serving outdoors

It'll be interesting to see what Harry Byrnes and The Yacht are charging, given they've both converted their car parks (although I suspect that both got heavy sponsorhip)

€5.90 for carlsberg and same for Heineken and then €5.50 for Guinness the other night in Harry's

Strumms

L1011 wrote: »

MUP is a publican and standalone off licence led measure to force convenience stores and supermarkets to charge a price acceptable to publicans and stand alone off licences. So it's entirely about forcing the competition to become dearer.

Its not a public health measure of any kind and it won't work as one - but it's pushers don't expect or want it to

I’d believe it...

My local went very expensive for, well everything over the last 4/5 years... the owners just bought their fifth pub in the city... asking price 3 million..go figure...their off license was always a rip off and it became known in the area as such....6 Guinness was about 12 euros when in my local supermarket it was 9.00... they stopped stocking 6 Carlsberg in favor of the 8 pack...

Pints now are extortionate... over 6 euros for a lager in the lounge and 5.80 a Guinness.

In the recession the place barring the weekend was a ghost town. Even at the weekend there was a notable drop off in trade..

Now the pricks are getting in behind this minimum pricing to try get people back into the pubs..zilch to do with health...

An alcoholic / heavy / regular drinker will get alcohol, the pricing structure or regs will not be a deterrent...zero deterrent... anybody who thinks otherwise doesn’t understand addiction/dependency.

This is a shady deal for the public.... publicans and politicians have always been intrinsically linked...crowd who own my local boast an ex Taoiseach as a best friend and regular...

Geuze

4.40 for Guinness before COVID.

4.40 tonight.

sligojoek

Austie's in Rosses Point at the weekend.

Golf and plenty of people around.

€4.60 for Guinness.


It's a good location and he could be charging more.

Geuze

sligojoek wrote: »

Austie's in Rosses Point at the weekend.

Golf and plenty of people around.

€4.60 for Guinness.


It's a good location and he could be charging more.

Sligo town is mainly 4.40, isn't it?

sligojoek

Geuze wrote: »

Sligo town is mainly 4.40, isn't it?

I'd say it's more than that. Pre lockdown was about 4.60. I haven't been in a pub in town since before lockdown

Geuze

sligojoek wrote: »

I'd say it's more than that. Pre lockdown was about 4.60. I haven't been in a pub in town since before lockdown

I suppose I'm referring to Foley's / Shoots / Swagman.

I'd swear Foleys and Shoots were 4.40 in 2019?

sligojoek

Geuze wrote: »

I suppose I'm referring to Foley's / Shoots / Swagman.

I'd swear Foleys and Shoots were 4.40 in 2019?

You'd be right about Shoots. I'd very rarely be in Foley's or the Swag.

As far as I remember Connolly's was 4.70

In Rosses Point this evening again. 2 Guinness and 2 Heineken 18.80
Guinness 4.60
Heineken 4.80.