HEINEKEN is cutting the alcohol strength of a popular beer from today.
The change is bound infuriate fans of the booze, but there is some good news as it could mean lower prices at the bar.
From today Heineken will be lowering the ABV (alcohol by volume) percentage on its Sol lager.
The strength of the beer, which tends to come bottled in pubs and bars, will be reduced from 4.2% to 3.4%.
Sol is marketed as a light, refreshing beer and was first brewed in Mexico at the end of the 19th century.
It became one of Heineken’s beers in 2010 and is now brewed in Zoeterwoude in the Netherlands.
The new lower-strength beer will be produced from today, but it won’t appear at the bar or on supermarket shelves immediately.
The good news is though, the change will come along with a drop in the wholesale price of Sol products.
One of the reasons the change is being made is to lower the amount of duty that needs to be paid on the beer.
In the face of rising costs in other areas it’s hoped this will help prevent further price hikes.
Back in 2023 the government brought in a lower duty band for alcohol products with an ABV between 1.3% and 3.4%.
Reducing the strength of popular beers to take advantage of the band has become commonplace in the face of soaring duty costs in the past 18 months, even given the 1% cut in duty on draught products introduced in the last budget.
[bc_video account_id=”5067014667001″ application_id=”” aspect_ratio=”16:9″ autoplay=”” caption=”Birra Moretti Steals the Crown from Carling!” embed=”in-page” experience_id=”” height=”100%” language_detection=”” max_height=”360px” max_width=”640px” min_width=”0px” mute=”” padding_top=”56%” picture_in_picture=”” player_id=”default” playlist_id=”” playsinline=”” sizing=”responsive” video_id=”1807990283206225556″ video_ids=”” width=”640px”]Because of this and other cost pressures Heineken and others have lowered the strength of some beers to reduce the tax paid.
Last year the strength of Dark Star Brewing Co’s Hophead, which is brewed by Asahi, was reduced from 3.8% to 3.4% ABV.
Big name beers including Stella Artois, Foster’s, Carlsberg, Spitfire, Old Speckled Hen and Bishops Finger have also all been reduced in strength in line with the introduction of the lower rate of tax on weaker booze.
Brewers are keen to avoid higher prices at the bar, particularly after it was revealed this month that the price of a pint has now hit £5.08 on average.
[authenticated-scripts src=”%3Cscript%20class%3D%22palin-poll%22%20src%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thesun.co.uk%2Fpollingwidgets%2Fv3%2Fwidget.js%3Fquestion_id%3D107482%26game%3Dpolling%22%3E%3C%2Fscript%3E” type=”embedded” width=”100″ /]The most expensive region is still London, where a pint costs £6.16 on average, and the cheapest is Midlands at £4.47.
The price hikes are the result of a perfect storm of rule changes including changes to taxes on alcohol, packaging and employers.
In the face of rising costs Heineken has already hiked the prices of its draught products this year.
From February 1 it increased charges to pubs by an average of 2.97%.
It was up to individual pubs and chains to decide if they wanted to pass on the increased cost to customers, and if so by how much.
Heineken had also warned that changes to government legislation around packaging, which are set to come into force this year, will lead to “significant cost increases” for the company.
The changes will make manufacturers responsible for fees related to ensuring packing materials have been recycled or recovered.
Previously the business would have been responsible for 35% of the costs but this will now be increased to 100%.
But, the brewery giant said it had made “considerable efforts” across the business to “deliver cost savings and drive efficiencies” in 2024 to offset the impact of these pressures.
A Heineken spokesperson said: “As ever, we continue to make considerable effort across the business to deliver cost savings and drive efficiencies to keep price increases to a minimum, and reduce the impact of inflation on our customers.”
What else is happening to booze?
While brewers have been feeling the pressure pubs have also been forced to push up their prices to cope with changes announced in the Autumn budget.
Wetherspoons is among those to have hiked the price of a host of popular drinks and menu items.
Its hikes saw the cost of a Guinness at The London and South Western branch in South-West London go from £4.66 to £4.81.
Meanwhile, the price of a Strongbow increased from £3.24 to £3.39.
Spoons has said several drinks including Carling, Budweiser and Coors would not go up in price.
Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin said: “Wetherspoon has always tried to remain as competitive as possible. We hope that our prices will still be reasonable in spite of these increases.’’
The decision came ahead of an increase in employer’s National Insurance Contributions set to come into force in April.
The rate at which employers make National Insurance Contributions will increase from 13.8% to 15%.
Meanwhile, the threshold at which businesses pay them is being lowered from £9,100 to £5,000.
Customers at Young’s pubs face paying 20p more for a pint after the Autumn Budget.
Simon Dodd, chief executive of Young’s, said the chain will hike its prices by between 2.5% and 3% because of these increased costs.
He said: “We’ll mitigate as much as we can of the NI contribution – we’ll do that through efficiency, we’ll do that through investing in our pubs.
“But there will be some price passed on to the consumer.”
Meanwhile, All Bar One owner Mitchells & Butlers told The Sun last year that the price of its pints could rise by between 10p and 15p.
The group, which also owns Toby Carvery, said higher wage expenses were “by far the most significant increase” in its cost base following the Autumn Budget.
Its chief executive Phil Urban said the chain was facing around £23million a year in extra costs just from the rise in National Insurance, with the increase in the minimum wage also sending its wage bill surging.
In November, chief executive of pub chain Fuller’s, Simon Emeny, said the price of beers at its hotels and pubs would likely be hiked by 10p.