By Gregor Hunter, Arj Singh and Chris Kay
credit: Damien Gayle
Landlords in Hackney say higher tax on cider will put the squeeze on local pubs like never before.
The rise of ten per cent above inflation means the average pint of cider could cost an extra 10p per pint from midnight on Sunday. Prices of higher-quality scrumpy will rise even more.
Duties on cider have risen much more sharply than on any other type of alcohol. Beers, wines and sprits will only rise by two per cent above inflation.
Many pub-owners have said they will feel the pinch of higher taxes on cider, a favourite during the upcoming summer months.
Chris Naden, manager of the Pembury Tavern in Hackney Central, said he expected the price of quality draft cider to rise by 30p a pint.
Edward Mason, owner of the Duke of Wellington pub in De Beauvoir, said quality cider, currently selling for between £3 and £4 a pint, was “a big part of our business”.
Hitting out against the tax, he said: “It’s certain to have an effect on our sales. We see sales increases from cider in the summer.
“It’s unfortunate in the current trading environment. It seems that pubs are under attack on all sides, particularly in the ongoing recession and with cheap drinks on sale in supermarkets.”
“We run a pub where people come to drink sensibly. We aim to promote a safe drinking environment and it’s a shame the government take a one-size-suits-all approach to punish those who drink cheap cider.”
Garath Kerr, manager and owner of Bar Kick in Shoreditch, said the tax would eat into profits.
“It’s a nightmare really, we’re getting hit from all angles between duty rises and tighter licensing laws.
“At the moment because trade isn’t as strong as it was, we don’t want to be making any price rises and making it a hindrance to come into the bar,” he said.
John Pardoe, the London & City branch manager for the Campaign for Real Ale, agreed with publicans’ concerns.
“It will definitely affect the pubs and clubs that attract the younger drinkers. Magners is massively popular now with young people. It’s going to hit a lot of pubs hard. Cider is a really big pub profit margin for the summer,” he said.
Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, defended the tax hike, saying: “Cider won’t have a massive effect on businesses overall. The aim was to stop young people drinking more.”
However, drinkers have railed against the new scrumpy duties, with a new Facebook group created in opposition to the cider tax hike. LEAVE OUR CIDER ALONE already has 2,879 members, proclaiming “WE CAN’T LET IT HAPPEN!”
The Wurzels also reacted badly to the news, saying they felt “unfairly penalised”.
“We would like to offer our 50 years of experience of cider drinking, and of playing within a cider community, to the government in an advisory capacity,” said front man Pete Budd and accordion player Tom Banner.
Local drinker Sham Kumar, 25, of Stoke Newington said: “Ten per cent on cider?! Is Alistair Darling purposely trying to ruin my summer?!”
Michael Otero, 22, a student drinker in Hoxton Park, said: “Everyone will pay in the summer but it is annoying. Drinking something like Magners is different from the cider which is really too cheap and can get you trashed.”
Geraldine Emile, 23, a student drinking Magners in Hoxton Park, said: “The price increase would put me off, I would look for an alternative.”
Cider has seen a resurgence in popularity in the last decade, seeing a 44 per cent increase in cider consumption nationally between 1998 and 2008.
The average Brit downs 13.7 litres of cider every year.
