I was in Tesco last weekend and took a stroll through the off licence area to see what had changed.
2 staff were chatting, one was working in the drink area restocking shelves - or trying to,as there weren't many spaces. He commented to his colleague that nothing was selling.
I also noticed a lot more 20cl spirits bottles on sale. An attempt to get some sales at relatively small money? I also spotted the "new Guinness slab" - 15 cans for 28 euro. Ouch!
Just on the nothing was selling bit, it's the middle of January. It's the slowest time of the year for alcohol sales every year. From next month on will give a better look at the effect of mup.
Lidl are rolling out can recycling machines - 10c per can, every little helps
I wonder if they could change this and maybe give a little extra for their own brand stuff...
That's only a pilot scheme, purely for the benefit of their corporate image, in advance of the rollout of a national scheme (supposedly) later in the year. When that happens, a refundable deposit will be added to each can (and plastic bottle), which will push sale prices (especially for slabs and multipacks) up even more.
If the deposit is set at 10c a can, that €28 slab of Guinness goes up to €29.50!
Centra too. Well my local one has. Haven't been in any others or supervalu to see whether it's musgraves or the franchise holder. And not just craft beers, added to the macro fridge packs which would've been unaffected.
Would they not be likely to include the refundable deposit into their already high profits, or will that also be breaching the new regulations.
EDIT - You couldn't use the refund to buy alcohol anyway, it's vouchers, but you could of course use them to buy other things and save for cans.
€2 per customer.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/business/lidl-ireland-welcomes-successful-trial-of-bottle-deposit-return-scheme-1217676.html
When the proper scheme is rolled out nationwide, the vending machine vouchers will be redeemable for cash so it wouldn't be possible to include the deposit value as part of the MUP. Only option would be to stick with glass bottles to avoid having to add a deposit.
Dutch Gold now down to 3.5% to keep it cheap. Not sure the students will flock to buy but who knows.
There was a time when mass-market lager couldn't be sold at less than 4.3% ABV in Ireland, hence we got our own special edition of Beck's Vier, a product designed for the UK market at 4%. Consumer sentiment has changed since, though: Archway and Rockshore both launched at 4%, and now there's Rockshore Light at 3.5%. I'd say Coman's knows that being a cheap multipack is a more important part of the Dutch Gold spec than any of the product's attributes. Those are down to 440ml cans too.
I think there will be a fairly good demand for 3.5 to 4.0 beers in the Summer.
The price point will make them attractive and for many drinking at a barbecue or outside party one ice cold lager is the same as another.
Typical ridiculous headline by the Mirror: "Dutch Gold’s genius workaround..."
Doesnt take a genious to work out that your actually now getting a mid-strength beer instead of a full-strength one for the same money.
And less of it.
Some might say that was a good thing 🙂
(sorry only kidding, couldn't resist it, I actually know someone who says it's quite good)
...I actually know someone who says it's quite good
How long before they graduate?
Haha full strength beer. Now that's funny.
Someone needs to remind Smithwicks their red ale is 3.8 percent and can be sold for 1.50 not 3.29!
It's a premium* brand.
*has an advertising budget factored into the price
I presumed the tweet they were referring to was ridiculing the scam they tried to pull, rather than praising it. The weaker drink gets the harder it is to get to a certain blood alcohol level per unit compared to strong stuff. i.e you can lash down spirits really quickly and get drunker for less money. It does not take a "genius" to work that out. The people aiming to get drunk for the cheapest possible price will turn to wine & spirits, just like they did in scotland.
"The people aiming to get drunk for the cheapest possible price will turn to wine & spirits, just like they did in scotland."
Exactly. It's us mugs that are paying for the stuff, that the crowd they are allegedly targeting wouldn't have touched to begin with.
I used enjoy heading to my local Polish store, buying a dozen or so mixed Lithuanian beers with different strengths. Ranging from €1.35 a can, most around €1.65 - €1.90.
Now I think the cheapest is €2.15. No extra price hike by the store themselves, They all seem to be the exact MUP price. Most are over €2.65 a can (admittedly cans are 568ml). It is f**king ridiculous. I might have 2 cans the odd night, and head to bed after a fairly long day. Now I will find myself going up North to the same chain in Newry and probably buying 10 cases to bring back. Not ideal, but I don't like most of the craft beers, and I'm not a fan of any of the 'premium' brands either, Nor will I be heading up to Newry every week. I don't plan on just wanting to get p*ssed, so I won't be turning to a few glasses of Whiskey either even though I have a huge fondness for it, I prefer to do that on few occasions.
The ink is barely dry on the new price stickers and Alcohol Action Ireland have started their new campaign, calling for an "Alcohol Harm levy" to be added to drinks prices, and for breweries and distilleries to be excluded from tax breaks and government grants. This is much less likely to actually happen than MUP (I hope!) but it's an indication that there is no point at which this lot will be happy and go away.
Like I told everyone four or more years ago on the after hours thread.
This lot are zealots. Nothing more and they won't stop ever.
We also should not be funding them out of tax payers money. I think that funding should be withdrawn immediately.
They won't be happy until we have prohibition
If we had prohibition they would be unhappy and redundant. What they need, and what they do, is a campaign which never ends.
Have they revived this campaign? I don't see anything on their website.
They should be told they already got their levy, MUP, and it's going from our pockets to the drinks trade.
I can't see any move against breweries and distilleries gaining traction.
They are all over the country providing employment and offering tourism focused visitor centres, mostly in areas that need all the help they can get.
Yes but as we've seen logical and the real world isn't their strong point.
It's in their response to the public consultation on taxation and welfare: https://alcoholireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/filebase/publications/AAI_TaxCommission_submission-1.pdf
Thanks for that.
Everyone should read it and see what they have in mind for us.
Not content with MUP they want to make drink even more expensive for us.
Never mind if you are a moderate drinker you will still be caught in their ever growing net.
I was in Martins Off Licence last week and the cheaper craft beers didn't seem to have changed price - the usual Irish and U.S 330ml cans were still at 2.50. Harder to track price changes on more expensive beers, but it seemed, basically, like no change due to the MUP. I had been worried they would add on a few cents "just because", the way it's said larger chains are.
Is that correct as far as the indie off licences go in general?
fwiw Supervalu in Wicklow didn't appear to have increased their prices across the board (unlike my local centra). Haven't noticed any changes in the independent off licences I've been in, or have visited online.
Interesting the doc refers NZ and OZ, where apparently there are specific levies and cost of living tracking. According to liquormart website in either country, vodka is about the same or less than Ireland
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