Booze sold at ‘pocket money prices’, report finds

Booze is being sold at ‘pocket money’ prices a new report had claimed, as it calls on the government to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) and taxing all booze in proportion to its strength.

The Alcoholic Health Alliance (AHA), whose report looking at the cheapest booze sold at retail in four areas of the UK was published today, claimed that “cheap booze can be found on every street corner”. It said that high strength white cider, the drink of choice for underage drinkers due primarily to its price, was found selling for as little as 16p per unit at retail, while cheap vodka was available for 36p per unit.

Consumers could buy 13 pints of white cider – which at 7.5% ABV would be equivalent to 53 shots of vodka – for the same price as a standard cinema ticket, it claimed.

The report was based on a survey of 480 products in independent off-licenses, convenience stores, discounters and multiple retailer in the North West, North East, Scotland and London, in April and May, which the AHA said was not designed to show a representative sample but to tiff the cheapest products.

Following the results, it has renewed its calls on the government to implement a minimum unit price on booze, to increase duty on high-strength cider in particularly, which is currently taxed at a third of the rate of duty of beer, and to tax all alcoholic drinks categories in proportion to their strength – recommendations it said should be “the central pillar” of any alcohol strategy.

Although the report admitted that alcohol consumption had fallen by 14% between 2005 and 2013, (although overall sales of cider had risen 50% per head in the last ten years), it argued that not enough had been done in the last five years, despite promises by the then Coalition government to bring in MUP, which was abandoned by MPs in favour of a below-cost price ban. It also criticised Chancellor George Osborne for halting the duty escalator on beer, cider and spirits, which it said had “helped” the multiple retailers. Supermarkets now sell “record levels” of around two thirds of booze sold, it said, with the price of beer rising 4% in the on-trade compared to the off-trade. It also criticized summer multi-pack promotions, claiming that the duty cuts and pricing policies were fuelling a culture of ‘pre-loading’.

“It seems that the stronger bargaining power of supermarkets enables them to pass on those cuts to customers more readily than pubs,” it said.

It was also heavily critical of alcohol producers, claiming industry pressure, notably the SWA’s legal challenge to the Scottish government’s MUP plans, had “thwarted” progress, and that alcohol consumption in Scotland was starting to rise again.

However the industry refuted this.  Rosemary Gallagher, Scotch Whisky Association head of communications told db:

“We believe that minimum unit pricing (MUP) of alcohol would be ineffective as it wouldn’t target harmful and hazardous drinkers. Evidence shows that most hazardous and harmful drinkers are among the wealthier parts of the population, are the least sensitive to price and do not tend to opt for the cheapest alcohol. We also believe MUP would be illegal in breaking European Union free trade rules. Last year’s ruling from the European Court said MUP is illegal if there other less trade restrictive measures available that can achieve the same aims. We now await the decision from the Court of Session in Edinburgh,” she said.

“It would be better to focus on developing measures already in place to tackle alcohol misuse that seem to be working. We are committed to addressing alcohol misuse, for example through our Scotch Whisky Action Fund in Scotland.”