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Low and no alcohol drinks

Nige

https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/feb/04/best-low-alcohol-non-alcoholic-drinks

Nige

I have 4 bottles of double drop from Morrisons, £1.50 each.
I quite like it, it hasn’t quite got the flavour of the full fat one but not a bad effort. Worth a try if you like IPAs.

Andrew

The Grauniad is currently running an item on low alcohol beers, wines and spirits. Interesting, but is there a reason why some are so expensive?

https://www.theguardian.com/thefilter/2025/feb/04/best-low-alcohol-non-alcoholic-drinks

Andrew

Andrew Oops, just realised that Nige posted the same link. Must be good then….

Simon

Andrew

Yes there’s a reason - The producers think that because the public by a bottle of 40% proof with 50% duty and 20% VAT on top that The publix expected and accepted cost set is to produce something where an 80% price

Thus tripling profit margin…

The reason is greed attached to presumed ignorance

Or perhaps that’s too cynical? nope it’s real 😭

Ps
No apology needed 🙂

Andrew

Cynical, but very realistic!

Have to get to Morrisons at fish-on-its-nose to get Nige’s recommended Double Drop.

Nige

I thought this was interesting.
40 bottles of 5% beer attract a duty of £21.78 or 54.45p per bottle.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/alcohol-duty-rates#:~:text=Table_title:%20Duty%20rates%20for%20draught%20products%20Table_content:,pure%20alcohol%20in%20the%20product:%2018.76%20%7C

Simon

Nige
Certainly accounts for why groups sat in parks drink cider !

And I think the translation of avoided duty to profit by the producer is reinforced by the pricing models you’ve shown.

I don’t see the justification for different duty levels for the same alcoholic content based on the fruit used.
I also think it a moral to be charging VAT on duty since that is clearly not value addition purely cost - a case of power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely
🙂

Nige

Simon that is very true. Same for petrol and diesel. A tax on tax, perfect scam !

It does make me wonder for those bottles that you buy in the supermarket, by the time you take off the duty and vat, supermarket’s cut, transport, bottling, all the productions costs, how much is left for the brewer. Can’t help thinking there isn’t a huge amount of profit in it. Cider must be pretty seasonal as well with much less sold in the colder months.

Nige

Simon with your minimum unit pricing, is it much cheaper to buy beers in Carlisle and smuggle them back over the border ?

Simon

Nige
Ohhh
I don’t know
That must be why Champion has gone up so much.
It was the sort of thing I only buy at Christmas but I didn’t even buy it then!
Thanks for the heads up
🙂

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