Pubgoers face pricier pints as Heineken to lift wholesale prices next year
Heineken will hike its wholesale price of draught and packaged beer for its pub customers by 15.8 per cent next year.
The brewer’s customers in the UK will face higher prices from 16 January.
It is up to retail and hospitality businesses to decide how much to pass on the extra costs to shoppers and punters.
The Amstel and Birra Moretti maker said it was “facing unprecedented cost increases on a number of critical inputs used to make beer and cider.”
Energy prices had “predominately driven” cost hikes, which were “also having a dramatic impact on the costs of other goods including glass, aluminium and malted barley,” a spokesperson Heineken UK added.
Pub bosses have called on the government to offer some financial aid as venues approach a gloomy winter, with increases across food and energy costs.
Venues have faced no choice but to raise prices for drinkers, who are also experiencing a cocktail of costs of their own.
Although the brewing giant had “undertaken initiatives to increase our efficiency and reduce cost volatility”, Heineken said the scale of its input costs meant it had “no choice” but to increase its wholesale prices.
Last month, the Dutch brewing giant said it had seen “some signs of softness in consumer demand” as households grapple with historic levels of high inflation.
The brewer highlighted the changing consumer backdrop as it revealed beer volumes rose by 8.9 per cent on a like-for-like basis in the third quarter, with higher pricing helping to lift revenues further.