Alert over price risk for ciders
MINIMUM pricing could kill off sales of strong white ciders, according to retailers.
The new law takes effect today with shops forced to increase prices to at least 50p per unit of alcohol. It means a three litre bottle of strong 7.5 per cent cider will cost £7.50.
The Scottish Government hope the new law will save almost a hundred lives a year.
MINIMUM pricing of alcohol could remove the cheapest strong white ciders from shelves.
The new law takes effect today with shops forced to increase prices to at least 50p per unit of alcohol.
It will mean a three litre bottle of strong 7.5% cider will cost £7.50, trebling the price of some brands.
The Evening Times spoke to shopkeepers in the city to ask what impact it will have on trade and the effect on customers.
A 75cl bottle of bottle of 37.5% vodka will cost £13.13 and a 40% abv bottle of whisky £14.
Independent off sales in Glasgow said it won’t affect most customers.
But they said they will no longer stock strong ciders like Pulse or Frosty Jack’s as customers would no longer buy them.
In High Spirit Off Sales in West Nile Street, Betty Glen serves a customer two cans of Tennent’s Super Lager costing £1.99 each.
She said that price will not change.
She added: “It will affect HCC cider, that will double in price from £1 a can to £2.”
She serves a customer four cans and tells him it will cost £8 from tomorrow.
As he leaves we asked him what he though about the price of his tipple doubling.
He said: “I know they are trying to stop the weans drinking but what about the adults?”
Ms Glen was not impressed by the minimum pricing strategy.
She added: “They should look at why people drink in the first place rather than the price of the drink.
“It is just to make it look like they are doing something about the drink problem.
“It won’t affect my customers. It won’t affect much of what I sell.
“I won’t order any more Frosty’s or Pulse. I didn’t sell a lot of it anyway.”
In Dumbarton Road, Mr P Singh in Day-Today has just re-priced most of his stock to meet the new laws.
He has around a dozen bottles of Pulse strong cider still with a label price of £2.49 for a two litre bottle.
He said he will sell some of it before closing then it will be gone from the shelves and he will not stock it anymore.
He said: “My customers have been OK with the new law. Some have complained but most do not have a problem with it.
“I won’t sell the strong ciders any more – at more than £11 no-one will buy it. They will buy something else.”
The Evening Times asked leading supermarkets what prices will increase and if it would affect products already sold above the 50p minimum.
Tesco said: “We wouldn’t comment on the specifics at this stage.”
Morrisons apologised for being unable to provide information stating and said it would take too much time to gather the information and some would be commercially sensitive, Asda did not respond to our questions.
I won’t sell the strong ciders any more – at more than £11 no-one will buy it