United Kingdom: The price of Stella Artois in the off-trade is to rise, Interbrew UK announced. The attempt is because the brand owner is unhappy at the low prices supermarkets are charging. In response to a Publican investigation into off-trade pricing last week, Colin Pedrick, managing director for on-trade sales at Interbrew UK, said the cut-throat price wars that supermarkets were engaged in over beer was not helping the brand, The Publican revealed on December 2.

“Interbrew UK does not want to see this deflationary spiral happening, we don’t like to see beer treated as a commodity in the take-home market and we are taking steps to put value back in to the beer category,” he told The Publican. As a result, Mr Pedrick confirmed that the company was taking steps to redress the price imbalance. “We are also taking action to restore category value through moving prices forward in the take-home market across our branded portfolio, including the brand leaders Stella Artois and Tennent’s lager, from the end of January,” he said.

“Unfortunately, Stella Artois’ status as market leader makes it a first choice for grocery retailers seeking to draw in customers through price deals. But, in fact, our brands command the highest average retail value price per litre among all the major brewers in multiple grocers. As we stand at the moment, Stella Artois in take-home this year is 20 per cent higher than last year on a pence-per-ml basis, commanding a nine per cent premium over Grolsch and Kronenbourg 1664, and a 20 per cent premium over Carlsberg Export.”

Last week The Publican published an investigation into off-trade pricing, which highlighted the amazing discrepancy between on and off-trade pricing (eight pints or 48 cans for £20), as well as customers’ preference for pub atmosphere over cheap prices.

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