Publican group slams latest increase in the price of a pint

PUBLICANS have reacted angrily to the announcement that the price of a pint is set to increase from next month.

Diageo, the company behind Guinness, has written to publicans across the country advising them of a four cent price increase (five cents when VAT is included) from August.

The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland, which represents publicans outside of Dublin, says the price increase is "poorly timed" and deeply unfair to both consumers and publicans.

In the correspondence, which was sent this Wednesday, Diageo has cited “rising business costs” as the reason for imposing the increase.

Reacting to this announcement, John Clendennen, VFI President and owner of Giltraps Bar and Glamping in Kinnity, County Offaly, said: “This is incomprehensible both in the need for such an increase and the timing of it. Diageo took a 12-cent increase back in February which, in my memory, is the highest ever increase imposed. Many of the factors under ‘rising business costs’ Diageo refer to as justification for the increase were either known back in February and included in that increase or, indeed, have reduced in the meantime”.

.@VFIpubs statement following price increase from @DiageoIreland which is deeply unfair to customers and publicans.... pic.twitter.com/Xotv63aY4W

— VFI (@VFIpubs) July 19, 2023

Mr Clendennen continued: “The timing is awful. We are in the middle of peak tourist season, businesses in tourist areas that need good summers to see them through the quiet winter period are suffering from the loss of accommodation beds, while the consumer is reeling from increased mortgage and other cost of living increases. I can’t think of a more inopportune time for a supplier to even be thinking of increasing prices, let alone doing it.

“I believe Diageo are out of tune with both their customers and the consumer. I will be calling on Diageo to review this decision immediately,” the VFI President concluded.