What can we expect from the "minimum pricing" on booze?

jayteecork

I understand that the supermarkets are selling urine like Heineken and Budweiser below cost.

I have no quarrel with the nanny state stepping in and stopping this. (realistically)

However what about cheap beer like six Dutch Mould, which is always sold for a profit.

How might the minimum pricing affect this.

Say it was law for 6 cans of beer to be sold at at least €12, would that be fair on Dutch gold who's costs of brewing are far less than Heineken, and have zero advertising and promotion budget - how much do Heineken pay to have the rugby European cup called the Heineken Cup? Zillions probably.

Would it be fair to make Dutch Gold charge the same as one would for 6 Heineken?

It would be the end of Dutch as we know it, and I am a connoisseur of this very fine (cheap) beer.

Genghiz Cohen

Well drink will cost more for one.

El Weirdo

Genghiz Cohen wrote: »

Well drink will cost more for one.

And that's all.

This will have zero effect on our "drinking culture", unlike they are claiming it will.

AgileMyth

Changing the licencing hours helped curb our drinking so much that they've decided more inexplicable legislation is the way forward.

Mr Benevolent

El Weirdo wrote: »

And that's all.

This will have zero effect on our "drinking culture", unlike they are claiming it will.

Indeed. It's a very crafty and underhand way of increasing VAT income on a very popular range of products.

AgileMyth

jayteecork wrote: »

It would be the end of Dutch as we know it, and I am a connoisseur of this very fine (cheap) beer.

Not a big fan of beer anyways but Dutch Gold is muck. Bavaria is the only tolerable cheap beer.

Rented Mule

jayteecork wrote: »

I understand that the supermarkets are selling urine like Heineken and Budweiser below cost.

However what about cheap beer like six Dutch Mould, which is always sold for a profit.

You call Heineken 'urine' and are concerned about the price of 'Dutch Gold' ?

Jesus wept.

Auvers

Rented Mule wrote: »

You call Heineken 'urine' and are concerned about the price of 'Dutch Gold' ?

Jesus wept.

they are about on par to be honest, well for the Heineken that's brewed here

on the other hand export Heineken is pretty tasty though

also OP dump the Dutch gold and buy yourself the nice cheap 5% beer, more bang for your buck

jayteecork

Auvers wrote: »

also OP dump the Dutch gold and buy yourself the nice cheap 5% beer, more bang for your buck

recommendations?

yeppydeppy

A certain German discount supermarket are doing a 700ml bottle of gin for €2.29 from 24th May.

jayteecork

yeppydeppy wrote: »

A certain German discount supermarket are doing a 700ml bottle of gin for €2.29 from 24th May.

2.29 are you serious?

lol I doubt it.

TeddyTedson

8 Heineken for 10e and a 70cl Smirnoff in Tesco for 15e on a good day. They aren't going to achieve anything by bumping up the price of cheap alcohol except make a bit more tax money.

They should put effort into reducing the price of alcohol in pubs and clubs and eliminate pre drinking. It would be more social and stop people from being well on the way before even getting anywhere.

El Weirdo

El Weirdo wrote: »

And that's all.

This will have zero effect on our "drinking culture", unlike they are claiming it will.

The original claim in the manifesto was that they would introduce this to prop up the pubs because FG think that pubs are very important.

That was before they decided to spin it as bla bla drinking culture.

I'm sure this is not going to drive anyone to the pubs who weren't going there already, though.

TeddyTedson wrote: »

They should put effort into reducing the price of alcohol in pubs and clubs

They won't because it's the pubs they want to promote by doing this

Auvers

jayteecork wrote: »

recommendations?

here's a few off the top of my head (all 5%)

Primus: ain't bad

Warka: has a nice strong taste

Karpackie: is probably the most similar to Dutch but its 5%

pebbles21

Just another stealth tax

HalloweenJack

I hope that people continue to avoid going to pubs and staying at home and drinking there, even if the price is the same, just to stick it to the Vintners' Association.

jayteecork

Auvers wrote: »

here's a few off the top of my head (all 5%)

Primus: ain't bad

Warka: has a nice strong taste

Karpackie: is probably the most similar to Dutch but its 5%

Karpackie gives us a headache.

Plus it has to be the most tinker name I've ever heard, even though it's from Eastern Europe.

aaronjumper

I like Bavaria and Dutch Gold and Heineken, pretty much anything that isn't Guinness.

Now they want to bring in more rules and regulations? (Sarcastic) Hurray.

Auvers

jayteecork wrote: »

Karpackie gives us a headache.

Plus it has to be the most tinker name I've ever heard, even though it's from Eastern Europe.

yeah tis the cheapest of the cheap

Oh here's another that I remember (barley)

the green Bavaria is quite nice as its export, not like that blue can muck

Auvers

bluewolf wrote: »

The original claim in the manifesto was that they would introduce this to prop up the pubs because FG think that pubs are very important

important to the TDs that are also publicans you mean

pconn062

bluewolf wrote: »

The original claim in the manifesto was that they would introduce this to prop up the pubs because FG think that pubs are very important.

That was before they decided to spin it as bla bla drinking culture.

I'm sure this is not going to drive anyone to the pubs who weren't going there already, though.


They won't because it's the pubs they want to promote by doing this

Absolutely right, I rarely drink in pubs, normally just a few social drinks at home with a few friends. Increasing the price of off license drink isn't going to convince me to go to the pub to get ripped off, just means if it gets too dear I will be buying less in the shops and off licences (thus creating less tax revenue for the exchequer).

Immaculate Pasta

Asking the Irish to curb its drinking culture will be like asking the French to stop poking each other with baguettes. Let's face it, it ain't going to happen. :cool:

Atlantis50

El Weirdo wrote: »

And that's all.

This will have zero effect on our "drinking culture", unlike they are claiming it will.

It will reduce consumption however, depending on the extent of the price increases.

yeppydeppy

yeppydeppy wrote: »

A certain German discount supermarket are doing a 700ml bottle of gin for €2.29 from 24th May.

I saw that, but when I clicked on it and worked it out from their "price by litre" its actually €12.29.

Had my hopes up so much :(:(:(

Yawns

jayteecork wrote: »

2.29 are you serious?

lol I doubt it.

He's right tho.

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/SID-4AA42602-888A6D24/lidl_ri_ie/hs.xsl/index_21153.htm

super_furry

The gas thing is, and the thing the government are remaining very silent about, is that alcohol consumption in Ireland is falling naturally and drastically. Our drinking habits have changed and as a country we drink 17% less annually than in 2001.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0203/1224311177180.html

Fighting Irish

jayteecork wrote: »

I understand that the supermarkets are selling urine like Heineken and Budweiser below cost.

I have no quarrel with the nanny state stepping in and stopping this. (realistically)

However what about cheap beer like six Dutch Mould, which is always sold for a profit.

How might the minimum pricing affect this.

Say it was law for 6 cans of beer to be sold at at least €12, would that be fair on Dutch gold who's costs of brewing are far less than Heineken, and have zero advertising and promotion budget - how much do Heineken pay to have the rugby European cup called the Heineken Cup? Zillions probably.

Would it be fair to make Dutch Gold charge the same as one would for 6 Heineken?

It would be the end of Dutch as we know it, and I am a connoisseur of this very fine (cheap) beer.

No

Fighting Irish

Rented Mule wrote: »

You call Heineken 'urine' and are concerned about the price of 'Dutch Gold' ?

Jesus wept.

Leave him alone, he's trying to be a beer snob

Zebra3

Nordie supermarkets welcome this new legislation.

sbsquarepants

Yawns wrote: »

He's right tho.

http://www.lidl.ie/cps/rde/xchg/SID-4AA42602-888A6D24/lidl_ri_ie/hs.xsl/index_21153.htm

Typo i'm sure.
Should be €12.29 i'd guess. Not that it matters, i wouldn't drink it if it was €0.29. Piss of the highest order!!

sbsquarepants

jayteecork wrote: »

It would be the end of Dutch as we know it, and I am a connoisseur of this very fine (cheap) beer.

Prazsky, my good man.
One of the nicest beers you can get and only €4.50 for 4 cans!
Fúck the nanny state:mad:

Yawns

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Typo i'm sure.
Should be €12.29 i'd guess. Not that it matters, i wouldn't drink it if it was €0.29. Piss of the highest order!!

Most likely a typo I agree. I didn't believe it until I saw it myself tho. I've never had the misfortune to have to drink it myself. I'll take your word for it.

seamus

I think the main problem here is that this will bump up the price of all beers, not just the cheap ones. So if the minimum price is set to €1 (for example), then retailers will bump the price of all beers by €1 on the pretence that it's costing them more to buy.

A large number of publicans will likewise try to claim that they're subject to this minimum pricing malarky and throw another 50c on the pint.

Meanwhile the big retailers like Tesco will simply skirt around the problem by offering discounts on other products when you buy beer. So when someone buys a slab of beer, Tesco gives them €5 of products (like crisps, popcorn, etc) for free.

You can't tax people into consuming less. I would have thought that the price of cigarettes was a perfect example, there's no need to implement another failure.

sbsquarepants

seamus wrote: »

You can't tax people into consuming less. I would have thought that the price of cigarettes was a perfect example, there's no need to implement another failure.

As if the government want people to drink less in the first place. The reason this is coming in is BECAUSE we are drinking less, which equals less money for the government and less money for the vintners association.

Tazz T

Well, judging by the Scandinavian example, we will drink less legal alcohol, so alcohol consumption will drop officially (as will excise duties, VAT, employment and employment related tax in the off sales industry).

However, watch the massive growth in home brewing and a renaissance in illegal poteen distilleries and a leap in alcohol related disease which won't be covered by excise duties and vat anymore, cos that's collapsed.

More great FG thinking.

Mr Benevolent

Tazz T wrote: »

However, watch the massive growth in home brewing and a renaissance in illegal poteen distilleries and a leap in alcohol related disease which won't be covered by excise duties and vat anymore, cos that's collapsed.

Home brewing is perfectly legal (I do it myself), home distilling isn't.

jayteecork

Confab wrote: »

Home brewing is perfectly legal (I do it myself), home distilling isn't.

I remember Eason used sell the kits, can you still buy them there these days and if not, where?

maximoose

jayteecork wrote: »

I remember Eason used sell the kits, can you still buy them there these days and if not, where?

You can pick them up in the larger Tesco Stores

or http://www.homebrew.ie/

geeky

Confab wrote: »

Home brewing is perfectly legal (I do it myself), home distilling isn't.

There are massive legal barriers to home distilling but, AFAIK, infusing for personal use is allowed. Been threatening to make my own gin this way for a while now.

Let's face it, the big winner from this will be northern supermarkets and the black market. The big mugs will be those consumers who haven't changed their habits.

Yawns

maximoose wrote: »

You can pick them up in the larger Tesco Stores

or http://www.homebrew.ie/

Afaik it was only the new Tesco in Naas that stocked the homebrew stuff. I would love if other Tescos did it as well.

If you are starting out tho it's better to order from www.homebrewwest.ie or www.thehomebrewcompany.ie along with the site quoted. Cheaper than Tesco and 3 of the better home brew sites in Ireland atm. There used to be a walk in shop in Dublin but that's now an online site only and the site is not the best for navigating imo.

Tazz T

Confab wrote: »

Home brewing is perfectly legal (I do it myself), home distilling isn't.

I didn't say it was illegal. I said poteen disilleries were. You can expect a new excise tax on home brewing kits. Happy now.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Going to get me a moonshine distillery for the woods out yonder.

Mr Benevolent

Tazz T wrote: »

I didn't say it was illegal. I said poteen disilleries were. You can expect a new excise tax on home brewing kits. Happy now.

Meh, I don't use kits anyway.

Nothingbetter2d

seamus wrote: »

You can't tax people into consuming less. I would have thought that the price of cigarettes was a perfect example, there's no need to implement another failure.

this is so right

the tax on cigarettes has led to a booming blackmarket ciggie business.

ScumLord

El Weirdo wrote: »

And that's all.

This will have zero effect on our "drinking culture", unlike they are claiming it will.

It might put a dent in those retched street people, if they can't buy alcohol they might stop begging for money.

The Radiator

I dunno

oppenheimer1

jayteecork wrote: »

What can we expect from minimum pricing

Many many more threads on the topic for one!

BattleCorp

Yeah, I can see this one backfiring on the Government, unintended consequences and all that.

It will just lead to a larger black market trade in alcohol and will wind up costing the state money and do sweet fcukall to curb the knob heads falling around the street.

Just a thought, but how do they intend to put minimum pricing in place. Are they going to set a minimum cost onto a unit of alcohol or what way are they planning to do it?

smash

Below cost just means they're selling it cheaper than the pubs can get it for. And they can buy cheaper because they buy it in bulk. They're not selling it at a loss, this measure is just to boost the pub trade which is a Fkn joke tbh! I know pubs who buy their bottles from the local o'briens because it's cheaper for them.

Ghandee

I'm no rocket scientist, but if any of Tesco marketing staff are reading this, here's a suggestion.

Current price, 24 x beers, = €15

New minimum drink plan, 24 x beers = €30.

So, Tesco do, 24 beer = €30, buy one, get one free


They may be able to tell supermarket how to sell beer, but giving it for free may be another thing altogether

Biggins

super_furry wrote: »

The gas thing is, and the thing the government are remaining very silent about, is that alcohol consumption in Ireland is falling naturally and drastically. Our drinking habits have changed and as a country we drink 17% less annually than in 2001.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0203/1224311177180.html

Shush... that might defeat their two faced spin!