Pub's prices to stay the same

IAN ALLEN

A hike in the price of beer announced by DB Breweries this week would not be passed on to customers, a Blenheim publican says.

Fairweathers owner Warren Croft said he could understand his supplier's decision to increase retail beer prices, given the rising cost of petrol and raw materials, but assured the price of a pint would stay the same.

But Mr Croft suspects some bar owners might take the opportunity to improve their profit margins. It would be a choice of conscience, he said.

"I will definitely hold my prices for the meantime," he said.

"We have just started to climb out of tough times and things are very slowly improving which is a great sign but we don't want to affect that improvement."

The price rise, which is not yet being followed by rivals Lion and Independent Liquor, comes into effect on March 5.

DB's core brands include Heineken, DB Export, Tui, Monteith's, DB Draught, Tiger and Amstel.

Its pack products (beer and cider) will rise 3 per cent on average while its tap products will go up 1 per cent. DB's ready-to-drink labels (RTDs) will rise 4 per cent.

Mr Croft said the price hike was inevitable.

"It's a tough industry," he said. "When you consider the price of petrol these days you can understand there has to be an annual adjustment."

Owner of the Jolly Roger Bar and Cafe in Picton, Michael Ganzevles, was undecided whether the DB Breweries price increase would be passed on to customers.

"We will have to wait and see. "We will use up the rest of our stock and put prices up if we need to."

Beer prices remained constant at the Jolly Roger Bar and Cafe after GST rose to 15 per cent last October.

"We absorbed that increase," Mr Ganzevles said.

The increases were a direct result of escalating costs, from raw materials and production to packaging and distribution, DB said.

Managing director Brian Blake said it was regrettable the costs had to be passed on to customers.

"DB is experiencing increasing material costs as well as significant pressure on fuel, energy and utility costs, all of which have impacted our overall production, packaging and distribution expenses," he said.

Progressive Enterprises, which runs the Countdown chain, said it would pass on the increase.

"Essentially the price we pay for products is ultimately reflected in the price that's on the shelf," national communications and public affairs manager Luke Schepen said.

"If our cost price goes up, obviously we do have to review our retail price and the same goes if prices go down."

- The Marlborough Express