Health group angered by 99p pint

[Peltigera]

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Health group angered by 99p pint
A pub chain is cutting the price of a pint to 99p to cheer cash-strapped drinkers - but the move has sparked criticism from an alcohol charity.

JD Wetherspoon, which operates 713 pubs across the UK, is offering "indefinite" reductions on some beer, bottled lager, wine and spirits, plus £2.99 meals.

Health campaigners fear other pub chains could follow.

Alcohol Concern says pricing drinks at 1989 levels could cause more people to drink too much and end up in hospital.

Nicolay Sorensen, from the charity, said prices across the industry were already 65% lower in real terms than in 1980.

"The number of alcohol-related hospital admissions is continuing to rise at an astonishing rate," he said, adding that treating drink-related illnesses costs the NHS £2.7bn per year.

He said that by selling beer at 99p per pint, pubs were not acting responsibly.

"The drinks industry isn't able to regulate itself responsibly and it's for the government to take action."

But Mark Hastings, of the British Beer and Pub Association, said the 99p pint only applied to one brand of beer - Greene King IPA - in one chain of bars.

Customers could stay at home and drink beer from supermarkets much more cheaply, whereas pubs offered a more responsible environment, he said.

"We are trying to stay in business, keep jobs in our sector and compete in a very competitive market," said Mr Hastings.

He said that with pubs closing at a rate of five per day, the sector had already lost 44,000 jobs.

Wetherspoon's chief executive John Hutson said the company was helping people in the face of the economic downturn.

"We believe that our new food and drink prices will allow people to enjoy a visit to a Wetherspoon pub without it costing them too much," he said.

Story from BBC NEWS:
news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/7810263.stm

Published: 2009/01/04 08:33:44 GMT

© BBC MMIX

[wheelspinner]

Jan 4, 2009 15:24:41 GMT -5 Peltigera said:

[glow=red,2,300][/glow]
Health group angered by 99p pint
A pub chain is cutting the price of a pint to 99p to cheer cash-strapped drinkers - but the move has sparked criticism from an alcohol charity.

Does an "alcohol charity" give away booze? Where can I register?

[ini]

Drowning of Woes and sorrows is a way to numb the pain and get depressed for good cause ... It's not me ... It is that darn alcohol ... Sales are always strong in an economic downturn ... recession-PROOF 80-Proof industry ... never fails ... enables escapism from the rigours of Reality ... Even !!

[wheelspinner]

It's said that the alcohol industry is supposed to be recession-proof. If that's true however, why do they need to cut prices? I think it's more that people have made a "no going out" decision, and they are trying to bring down the overall cost of a night out. The cheap beer is just bart of that.

[Calluna]

Jan 11, 2009 2:35:41 GMT -5 wheelspinner said:

It's said that the alcohol industry is supposed to be recession-proof. If that's true however, why do they need to cut prices? I think it's more that people have made a "no going out" decision, and they are trying to bring down the overall cost of a night out. The cheap beer is just bart of that.

That sounds like the more likely reason. If you bring down the price of the drinks to what it would cost to stay home and have a drink to lure people out to remain social, then they're likely to still buy the overpriced food and keep the pubs in business.

[gentileben]

I fail to unsderstand what part government has to set the price of a product in a free society. I think the price an indvidual pays for a pint of suds is his and the bar's business. I think this charity should pay more attention to graft in their own ranks. This is probably a smoke screen to cover their own errors I'm sure.

[Peltigera]

Gentileben, this has nothing to do with government but rather is a comment from a charity that picks up the bits and pieces once a drinker reaches the point of having nearly uncontrollable problems with alcohol. In fact, the very people who are qualified to have an opinion on the subject.

(SUDS! Not with British beer - it is a very long time since British brewers put soap in the beer. Expect a slight smattering of bubbles and no more.)

[Calluna]

I don't think it makes them any more qualified than anyone else to have an opinion on the subject. If anything, it predisposes them to overreacting and thinking only the worst. Really, 99 pence for a beer is just comparable to grocery store prices for the same amount of beer, probably still more expensive given current exchange rates. GOOD beer in the US costs about $7-$8 for a six-pack at the grocery store. When budgets get tight, why would you pay $5 for a beer at the bar/pub when you could buy a whole six-pack to drink with your friends for that price? Plus, if you stay home, you still might get take-out food, but it won't be from the pub, while if you head to the pub, you're going to buy some snacks too, if not a whole meal.

It's really not any different from the bars around here that offer $1 well drinks on the slow nights of the week. It gets people in the door, but then they either spend more buying food, or getting drinks that aren't on the specials menu.

[Peltigera]

Good British beer costs £1.50 a 500ml bottle (I have never seen it in cans or in multipacks) - I am thinking Hobgoblin here. Industrial beer is probably cheaper but I wouldn't want to drink that. In a pub (Tap and Spile, Lincoln) Hobgoblin is about £2.60 a pint, so a lot more expensive. (For some reason, we have beer in pubs by the pint, but by 500ml in bottles).




Just noticed I can now do sophisticated things like CO₂ - not relevant here.

[Calluna]

Do you really think the "some" beer that is included in that 99p promotion is going to include those ultra-expensive premium brands?

[joethree56]

Do you really think the "some" beer that is included in that 99p promotion is going to include those ultra-expensive premium brands?
It will not, but 'Hobgoblin' and the like although they are premium are not ultra expensive. That label is reserved for the expensively advertised imitation beers laughingly called Lager by the producers and quaffed by people who have never downed a genuine lager in their lives.
The thing is that Wetherspoons do sell some respectable beers in some of their outlets (I hesitate to call then real pubs) One local to me has a a decent pint of Batemans for example. But it is IMO in the business of selling beer rather than pub ambiance and so its lower prices reflect the aridity of its watering holes.

[joethree56]

I could have sworn I rendered the soul-less pub chain that consists of redundant banks and defunct cinemas as Wetherspoons.

[joethree56]

Once again that chain of dull beer sellers called Wetherspoons was rendered as something different. What IS going on here?

[Georgina]

Jan 20, 2009 19:00:07 GMT -5 joethree56 said:

Once again that chain of dull beer sellers called Wethersthingys was rendered as something different. What IS going on here?

I'm not sure what it is you're trying to have happen that's not, Joe. I see the same name "Wethersthingys" keep coming up. Is that not what you intend? If so, maybe break it down in syllables in case there's some weird censor on that I don't know about.

Also, we can modify/edit posts here so you can repair the original rather than reposting.

Edited to add: Please see my post in the Posting Rules thread that you asked a question in, Joe. It seems we have a default "naughty word" filter that I wasn't aware of. Beth and I can make changes to it. I'm assuming, then that the beer name has some rooster association?

[wayneinfl]

Are the drinkers most likely to have problems going to bother to go to a pub and drink expensive beer at a low price? It seems to me they would go to grocery stores and buy the cheap stuff. Maybe drunks in England are different, but here they go to convenience stores and buy 40 oz. Milwaukee's Best or Old English 800.

I don't think cheap beer is going to make people drink more- it's going to encourage people to go to the pubs to drink, rather than sitting at home and saving money.

Come to think of it, maybe it's time for me to open that bottle of rum in the frig.

[Peltigera]

British drinkers with serious problems will buy cheap cider or 'sherry' - and, in Lincoln, meet at Stamp End Sluice to drink it. These are not the people the lead article is concerned about. Alcohol Concerned is concerned that people with a serious liking for alcohol may end up joining the Stamp End Sluice brigade.

[oskar]

You keep rum in the fridge?