On Minimum Alcohol Pricing
Friday, March 23rd, 2012 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miss_s_b
This was posted as a comment on somebody else's blog, but I figured it deserved a broader airing, since it's me explaining (again) how the government's actions are not neutral on pubs even when they try to appear so:
Prices for everything will go up if there's a minimum price, not because of some nefarious plot by big business (or even the Tories), but because of simple economics. If a bottle of White Lightning costs #5, no self-respecting wine manufacturer is going to want their bottle of wine to cost less; all alcohol will rise in price because market position is more important than anything else, so the lowest priced product going up will have a knock on effect right up the chain.
Meanwhile, prices in our pub will go up because we get most of our spirits from Sainsburys - because they are cheaper than any of the industry suppliers who are used to supplying people who are tied to them - so when Sainsbury's put their prices up, ours will have to rise too. This is not pubs whining, this is a simple fact.
Prices for everything will go up if there's a minimum price, not because of some nefarious plot by big business (or even the Tories), but because of simple economics. If a bottle of White Lightning costs #5, no self-respecting wine manufacturer is going to want their bottle of wine to cost less; all alcohol will rise in price because market position is more important than anything else, so the lowest priced product going up will have a knock on effect right up the chain.
Meanwhile, prices in our pub will go up because we get most of our spirits from Sainsburys - because they are cheaper than any of the industry suppliers who are used to supplying people who are tied to them - so when Sainsbury's put their prices up, ours will have to rise too. This is not pubs whining, this is a simple fact.
