28 Feb 2008 15:24
Gerwyn Morgan
20 Post(s)
1 Star Rating


RE: Inbev: UK beer volumes down 10.3%

Agreed, the smoking ban has not helped, but its not all to do with that...........

Pubco prices do not help.....

My pubco charges me £121.96 (EX VAT) for 11 gals of Guiness, that equates to £1.39p per pint. To make the desired 54% GP I would have to sell Guiness at £3.60 (inc VAT) per pint.

Guess what !!! I have not sold Guiness in my place for the past year.



I am currently paying £121.60p (EX VAT) for 10 gals of Stella, that equates to £1.52 per pint, again, to get the desired 54%GP I need to sell Stella at £3.85 (inc VAT), Due to other "Free of Tie" in the locallity, I have to sell Stella at £2.75 per pint (Most of the free of tie pubs close to me sell it between £2.35 & £2.45 per pint). I am only achiving a GP of 35% on Stella............. Guess whats next to go from the pumps !!!!

I would love to sell Guiness, Stella etc, but at these prices, im affraid, im going to end up as a cafe'. ( a non smoking one at that) !!. or maybe even open an under 18s pub and sell soft drinks, at least that way I'll make a few pounds and better GPs.

Really, someone should look at what the pubcos, brewers etc etc charge......... or we will all end up taking the primium drinks off sale.

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28 Feb 2008 15:51
Stephen Corbett
69 Post(s)
3 Star Rating


RE: Inbev: UK beer volumes down 10.3%

Funny enough I’ve just had a visit from an Inbev rep today. I wasn’t in the pub so I didn’t see him he just left his number. I don’t sell any of their products so I wasn’t really bothered. However it did make me think: I haven’t seen an Inbev rep for about 2 years and he obviously new what products we sell because all of the brewery reps are linked up to pubs current turnover figures via my pubco.



So thinking it through, he has come to my pub to try to persuade me to sell Stella or the like on draught. He would probably want to show me glossy marketing pictures or a wonderful video or slideshow on his laptop. All of which would show how strong the brand is and how much better off I would be to sell his products.



But here’s the thing; He is not in a position to bargain with me. He can’t discount his products to ease out other brands; He can’t give me a trail period with a reduced price to see if the product will work. All he can do is offer some pretty posters and some useless point of sale. WHY?? Because my pubco does all of that for me. I’m a tied pub. They send me a price list every year. This price list is full and final!! No negotiation, no incentives, no way whatsoever for me to bargain a better deal so that I can make a better profit or pass some of this enhan

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28 Feb 2008 15:53
Stephen Corbett
69 Post(s)
3 Star Rating


RE: Inbev: UK beer volumes down 10.3%

No negotiation, no incentives, no way whatsoever for me to bargain a better deal so that I can make a better profit or pass some of this enhanced discount back onto my customers.



So there you go Mr Inbev rep or any other rep for that matter, don’t waste your time coming to my pub because I’m ‘tied’.



Close your eyes for a minute, Imagine I could negotiate a better deal with the Inbev rep. Would my pub and customers benefit from it? Would it make my pub a better place to be? Would it help sort out the very fundamental reason that we want to own our own businesses??



Oh Boy! Of course it would….

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28 Feb 2008 23:14
Mark Dodds
147 Post(s)
5 Star Rating


RE: Inbev: UK beer volumes down 10.3%


I have no idea how much I pay for beer offhand - I gave up knowing the prices of beer over ten years ago... no point checking except everynow and then to make sure the gp isn't hemorraghing. I know what sort of price we can get away with charging before customers just walk out saying 'you're a rip off'. So prices are set by comparison with the competition, not by what mark up has to be achieved in order to get a living profit. My overall gp on beer has never been more than 51%. It's mostly been 49%. This is a laughable embarrasment.

Everything else though - from rent to rates to flour to olive oil, house wine to top of the list, bottled water, Fentimans to Millers, Bombay mix to Chilli cashews to Yorkshire crisps to olives in our own marinade. I know how much they cost. I know what my gp is.

I get up to 85% on cocktails, 75% on wines, 60-65% on food, 70-80% on most snacks. And an overall of 60% including beer - beer is a third of income volume overall and brings profitability down dramatically.

Another way of looking at this is to see that I HAVE to overcharge for everything that isn't beer to compensate for the fact that I HAVE to undercharge (against cost price) for beer.

TRUTH IS beer is a loss leader. And I'm not a supermarket.