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GUINNESS-OWNER DIAGEO will increase the price of its beers from next month due to inflation.
The price increase, first reported by Virgin Media News, will add 12 cent to the price of a pint, excluding VAT.
The company said it had absorbed cost increases “for as long as possible”, but it could no longer do so.
The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, which represents publicans, has called on Diageo to reconsider the move, adding that publicans will most likely have to pass on the price increase to their customers.
In a statement to The Journal, a spokesperson for Diageo said: “Like many businesses in Ireland, we are facing significant inflation in input costs across our operations.
“We have absorbed these costs for as long as possible but unfortunately, we can no longer continue to do so,” the spokesperson said.
“As a result, we have written to our customers in the on-trade to advise them of an increase on our draught beer list prices of 12 cent per pint, exclusive of VAT.”
The price change will be applied across the whole Diageo draught beer range and will take effect from 1 February 2023.
Other beers distributed by Diageo include Hop House 13 and Smithwicks.
It comes after Heineken increased its keg prices by 9% in November, following “significant increases in the cost of energy, packaging, and raw materials”.
The increase added 17 cent plus VAT to the price of a pint.
Commenting on the matter at a press conference this afternoon, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he thought the increase would cause financial hardship for publications when combined with other rising costs.
“I think pubs form a very important part of our economy and a very important part of our tourism offering, our welcome and a very important part of our social fabric as well,” Varadkar said.
“I don’t think a 12 cent increase in itself is going to put any pub out of business but I suppose with combined rising costs, it will cause financial hardship for many.”
The Taoiseach also encouraged people to apply for the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme (TBESS).
The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland has said the announcement by Diageo is “further bad news for the pub trade already grappling with soaring energy costs, inflation and the general increase in the cost of doing business”.
Vintners’ CEO Paul Clancy said: “Following the increase in Heineken prices in December, this is the second major price increase our members are having to deal with in a few short weeks. Publicans are getting hammered from every angle at the moment and this news from Diageo is a further blow to the trade.
“We’re heading into the quietest few months of the year for the trade so the increase in the price of a pint couldn’t come at a worse time,” Clancy said.
Due to the unprecedented cost of doing business publicans will have to pass on this price increase to their customers, which is something they are very unhappy about.
“It’s well documented that energy costs are at all all-time high, while at the same time the trade faces losing the 9% hospitality VAT rate at the end of February. The trade can’t keep taking these hits on what appears to be an almost weekly basis. The VFI is calling on Diageo to reconsider its decision in light of the pressures on the pub trade.”
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2 pubs gone in Limerick City in the past week, I’m sure they won’t be the last to go. There’s no value in going out anymore.
@Jonathan McCoy: 100% in agreement there Jonathan. Going out on a regular basis once a week is no longer sustainable.
Our local is on its knees. Owner had to close for a week as he had nobody to run when he was in hospital. Before the pandemic he had 5 people working there. Now its just him and one lad part time.
Reported profits of 4.4 billion sterling for diageo 2022 ,, keep them profits coming,,,greed is not the word
@Declan Nugent: that figure was 3.75, and it was revenue, NOT profit. Then also ask, which divisions (eg Guinness) were making a profit or loss for the group.
Declan – Get facts right or don’t comment at all
@Sean D: just reading from diageo website, preliminary results year end ,to me one company massive profits,but hey I’m not an accountant,but I know 4.4 billion from a 15 .5 billion turnover looks pretty good results to me .So that’s the facts from diageo website, maybe you could tell me ,are they making a loss in Ireland
Will publicans round it up to 50c or a euro ?
@Genera L Consensus: between VAT, Excise and trying to maintain a margin, yes, they will! It’s not costing them 12 cent extra, so it won’t cost us 12 cent extra.
Publicans should do like they said they were going to do with Heineken, don’t stock it,tell them to drink it themselves and bye.
Stock affordable ,people will get used to it…
@Gerry Campbell: publicans need to do what Lidl and Aldi do and source local cheaper products and sell them. A few pubs over my way got Tuberg and Beamish lately and customers have shifted to them from Guinness and Heineken
@Patrick O Connell: We all drink Tuborg in my local and it’s nice, I use to drink Heino but haven’t in a while. Can’t complain for 4.20 a pint of it either.
@Gerry Campbell: it would be a brave (or stupid maybe?) publican to remove their top selling draught item from their inventory when pubs are just about managing to stay open these days.
@Marcus Suridius: nothing wrong with Tuborg, alot drink it with us as well
Different drink I understand, but I recently got 45 cans of magners for £30 across the border. With offers like that, no wonder the drink trade in Ireland is gone.
@The Bolt: I’m not spending my money up there, would rather not drink at all tbh.
@The Bolt: it was gone a long time ago, none of the ‘Irish brands’ are actually Irish anymore, Murphys, Bemish, and Bulmers(C&C), are Dutch, English and Scottish. The commenter above refers to greed, well the Irish are experts at it, as soon as we got the place back the lads started selling it off for shiny coins
Pubs are dead. Only the Super pubs will survive this latest increase
@Gregson from the Block: won’t beer from supermarkets or off licenses also go up by 12% tho?
@Sean: Maybe so but it’s still a hell of a lot cheaper than going to a depressing pub with only a few bar flies hanging around.
@Sean: you could argue they should be making more money because of minimum unit pricing. Deals and slabs for €20/€24 like at Christmas are gone. I’d wonder how impacted sales were even as a consequence. There’s nothing extra collected by government from MUP only extra VAT due to the minimum price now and if more people have a ripple at home that further would increase the revenue from the off trade.
@Gregson from the Block: if someone drank ten pints, it would only cost him an extra €1:50 by the end of the night
@Patrick O Connell: that’s before vat. Last increase was 9c before vat and 17c after apparently. And you’re right it’s a relatively small increase overall.
Bye, Bye pub.
@Fuji Hakayito: Really though, seriously? Price increase plus VAT is about €0.17 extra per pint. That’d only be €1.70 after 10 pints. The hyperbole here is crazy. The pub or customer will not be affected by this.
@Alan Wright: Very well put. If you go to the pub 3 nights a week at 10 pints a night, this will only cost you the price of a pint.. so just have 29 pints instead of 30 pints..
@Alan Wright: It’s only about that until the publicans put their margin on top of it, which will likely double the increase. Publicans always whining about breweries putting up prices but the first thing the publicans then do is slap another bit on top for themselves. But if anyone is that affected by the price increase they can drink cheaper beers or off licence which is a fraction of the price of pub pints. Everything is going up in price, the pint isn’t sacred.
@John McCann: Yep, but that’s hardly Diageo problem. There is no increase to be absorbed by the pubs, so if they price-gouge (over the €0.17) its nothing to do the brewery.
@Alan Wright: 12c plus Vat…The publicans will have to cover their margins by the same amount..This will increase the pint by at least 30c.
@Alan Wright: i set a tipping point. It has been met. As I said, Bye, Bye, Pun.
@Fuji Hakayito: :) *Pub
@Alan Wright: there are none so blind as those who will not see.
Pubs in Ireland are going the way of the Dodo.
Significant increase in greed perhaps.
@Richard Casey: We started it by selling everything, only, in our ‘young state’ we didn’t realise that the price was actually crap. lol.
They just love hacking bits of Irish culture away till it dies don’t they.
The price to go out is crazy.. it’s going to destroy so many jobs..
Well its just greed at the end of the day.
Is this the same Diageo that mocked Heineken for their price increases last year…and said they wouldn’t be doing the same??
@Sean Scanlon: Nope, Diageo have said for the last 6 months now, that they wouldn’t be increasing prices in 2022 (they didn’t) and will early in 2023.
Er, pint of tap water, please.
The Publicans weren’t too concerned about price increases when then lobbied against the off licenses and got the prices increased when they were on their pseudo health agenda and didn’t want any poor man getting drunk on the cheap at the house..Therefore damaging his health, The local Publicans apparently only give you a couple of pints and then makes sure you get a taxi home..I was out over Christmas and just like everyone else I was blind drunk leaving the Pub.The Publican wasn’t too concerned about the state everybody was in or how they got home as long as the wallets were lighter.
@Redseat92: Ever hear of personal responsibility? It is none of the publican’s business or their responsibility what you do outside of the premises. If you choose to go in yourself and drink alcohol, you should organise your own transport home. Nobody forced you to get “blind drunk”, and it’s fairly common knowledge if you drink alcohol you will get drunk, no?
@Tina Kelly: Absolutely..But why did the Publicans representative constantly rhyme of the bastions of good health line on the radio and TV when lobbying against the off licenses…? I personally would hate being restricted to a couple of pints but I’d have far more respect for the individual if he was truthful and said..We don’t care how much you drink as long as you have the money to pay for it and we don’t want anyone spending money in off licenses.And as far as getting customers home safe…Not once in my life has a publican made sure I got home.
Drink your local beer
@JustBEERbarry: nice idea in theory but independent brewers have had difficulties getting pubs to stock them and the economy of scale they manufacture at would make them at leas as expensive.
@JustBEERbarry: Unfortunately local brewed beers are more expensive than regular beers.
@JustBEERbarry: Irish independent brewery beers currently available in my local Wetherspoons for £2.20 a pint. Not bad
@Donal Desmond: no they aren’t more expensive, that’s a myth. A like for like lager from a micro Vs one from a macro has very little if any cost difference.
Driving everyone to drink…wine.
Jayus…can’t get a house, renting as expensive as a mortgage, can’t go to a hospital, can’t afford a pint, supermarket prices at an all time high…not even goin to go into Covid and Global warming… something very very wrong with this picture.
it was the worst of times, it was the worst of times!
Soon tourists will show up to Ireland to see all the hotels because thats all that will be in Dublin and they will drink at the hotel bars as there will be no pubs. Or they will just stop coming once all the things which they usually come to see will be gone thanks to this government.
The hospitality trade is dead. Over priced alcohol and food, served by people that don’t care!! And that goes from Fast food to nice restaurants that I’ve been in lately! And while prices for produce have increased, the service provider is added extras on out of greed.
that 12 cent will mean about 25 – 30 cent in the pubs… just like Heineken did
@Marcus Mc Cann: Heineken didn’t do it though, did they. The pubs took advantage to a modest price increase by the brewery (where the pub had no extra cost to absorb). So be angry at your pub for price gouging instead.
@Alan Wright:
Heineken claimed that they were bringing the price increase on a phased timescale but not the case in reality, Heineken prices went up by 30cents on December 1st.
12c increase will probably see a increase of 20c
Gave up alcohol over a year ago.best thing I ever did.
Work is the scourge of the drinking class
Glad I don’t drink anymore. The prices between pubs and off license with MUP seems off the scale
Edibles. better in every way.
Will have to go for the continental half litre so.
€8.17 isn’t much worse than €8.00
That wasn’t part of the deal Blackheart! THAT WASN’T PAAARRTTT!!!
Guinness did not put up the price of its beer when Heineken did, it said it would hold off , It let Heineken take the heat and now it is in the same club as them , It was so predictable what it was up to Guinness does not like competition
Good!
People will moan but the majority will pay it.
Mr.Anderson where are you? You got the covid insurance money. After the High Court.
have your say