Kellfire
Blackballed
At those prices you’re drinking the off pours of vinegar with some purple food colouring.You are right but there again I like to drink wine and not fruit juice.
Minimum Alcohol Pricing.
- Thread starter Doon frae Troon
- Start date
Doon frae Troon
Ryder Cup Winner
In Scotland the minimum price act also put an end to multi packaging..ie 3 bottles of wine for £10 and 3 cases of beer for £20.
Cheapest bottles of wine are £4.50. semi decent stuff £5. After that the minimum price does not affect the cost.
What the act has done is stop supermarkets multi selling and undercutting the offys.
As an ex licencee both north and south of the border I think that stopping the multi package sales has had as much of a positive effect on cutting alcohol sales as minimum pricing.
Cheapest bottles of wine are £4.50. semi decent stuff £5. After that the minimum price does not affect the cost.
What the act has done is stop supermarkets multi selling and undercutting the offys.
As an ex licencee both north and south of the border I think that stopping the multi package sales has had as much of a positive effect on cutting alcohol sales as minimum pricing.
MegaSteve
Tour Winner
Reduced sales don't necessarily mean reduced consumption by the target group... To believe otherwise is #delusional...
If you have a habit you'll find a way of financing it or simply move to an alternative... Which could potentially be more addictive/harmful...
If you have a habit you'll find a way of financing it or simply move to an alternative... Which could potentially be more addictive/harmful...
MegaSteve
Tour Winner
And, cheap doesn't relate to terrible... Plenty of overpriced expensive swill to be found on the shelves... In blind tasting a wine that can be got for a fiver often tops the lists...
ColchesterFC
Journeyman Pro
Would be interesting to see the sales figures for alcohol from off licences and shops in the north of England close to the Scottish border to see if they have gone up at all since the price rise in Scotland.
Doon frae Troon
Ryder Cup Winner
We went through that one a year ago.
Because of the bulk and weight it is not really commercially viable for trucks to load up with cheap cider in England to sell in Scotland.
ColchesterFC
Journeyman Pro
Was more thinking about people with vans doing a run for them and their mates. If you live not far from the border and have a transit van it might be worth it but the further away from the border you live the less worthwhile it becomes. I imagine 3 bottles of wine for £10 in Carlisle Tesco might seem reasonable if you live in Dumfries and want to stock up but less so if you're in Aberdeen.
Have there been any figures released that show the drop in sales/consumption by area? Is the biggest drop in those areas that are closer to the border?
Tashyboy
Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
Fortunately I read it steve coz I was interested in another point of view. Bottom line it was Rammel. Not one stat regards the UK and especially Scotland which is what the op post was about. Furthermore France which consumes a lot of alcohol. Well it don't seem to affect there life expectancy either.
Now am all for being educated, but for me there is a massive drinking "culture" in the UK and it is a problem in every city and town centre every weekend. Ask the emergency services if I am wrong. The word there is culture. The French, Spanish, Italian do consume large quantities of alcohol. But from what I have seen it is a family cultural.
The fact that Scotland seems fit to charge a minimum price does not address the problem of exc shiver drinking at all and seems a sneaky tax on the responsible drinkers.
jim8flog
Journeyman Pro
I thought that all supermarkets had voluntarily dropped the 3 bottles for a set amount.
backwoodsman
Tour Winner
Am afraid i dont see minimum pricing as a solution. In the uk we have a serious cultural problem, regardless of there being a minimum price in Scotland, or no minimum price in England. Supermarkets in France and Spain sell wine, beer, spirits & cider at ludicrously cheap prices compared to ours. But they dont seem to have tbe same problems of people being off their face five nights a week.
pendodave
Tour Rookie
We seem to be confusing two different things here.
Consuming large amounts of alcohol, whether in a pub or quietly at home is a public health issue, this is what alcohol pricing seeks to address. Your liver really doesn't know the difference...
Consuming large amounts of alcohol, whether in a pub or quietly at home is a public health issue, this is what alcohol pricing seeks to address. Your liver really doesn't know the difference...
MegaSteve
Tour Winner
Sadly, the delusioned, believe ramping up the price equals to job well done... Not just in the case... Sugar tax won't save kids health/teeth and ten pence for a plassy bag doesn't turn us into instant tree huggers...
Kellfire
Blackballed
MegaSteve
Tour Winner
I am blown away by your googling skills... I am sure you are also able to find how many tonnes of plastic waste we ship overseas to be stockpiled... Not recycled as such... Treehuggers we are not...
Doon frae Troon
Ryder Cup Winner
There is absolutely no sign of cross border trade, as I said the bulk/weight cost makes this a pretty stupid action.
Do you really think folk would drive 72 miles [if they own a car] to save a small amount of money on really cheap horrible wine.
Are they still actually doing 3 for £10 deals in England.
ColchesterFC
Journeyman Pro
I don't know re the 3 for £10 deals. I know Tesco do 25% (I think) off if you buy a case/6 bottles of wine.
I suppose as a one off if you're buying a large amount for an event such as a wedding reception then it might be worth it but for general day to day drinking the savings are outweighed by the petrol/diesel costs. I hadn't taken in to consideration that it was only the drinks at the cheap end of the range that was affected by the price rise and if you're drinking mid-range or expensive wines then there's no savings to be made anyway.
Kellfire
Blackballed
Simply pointing out that this particular strategy is working. You seem to have an opinion that any benefit that isn’t massive in scale isn’t worth it.
USER1999
Grand Slam Winner
If implemented here, does this not just make cheap stuff hide amongst better stuff?
So I like Campo Viejo. I can buy it for £6 a bottle say. At minimum 50p a unit, this probably won't change.
But cheap nasty stuff that was £4 a bottle will now also end up around the £6 mark.
Ok, I will still buy Campo, but if I didn't, I could no longer judge quality by price (not the best way, but a reasonable indicator).
So I like Campo Viejo. I can buy it for £6 a bottle say. At minimum 50p a unit, this probably won't change.
But cheap nasty stuff that was £4 a bottle will now also end up around the £6 mark.
Ok, I will still buy Campo, but if I didn't, I could no longer judge quality by price (not the best way, but a reasonable indicator).
ColchesterFC
Journeyman Pro
The best way is to look at the label. If it has a picture of an animal on the label then it's a good bottle of wine.
SwingsitlikeHogan
Major Champion
I read recently that the sector of the UK 'alcohol' market showing the greatest growth is non-alcoholic beers. Interestingly my local Sainsburys has increased it's selection of non-alcoholic beers. The only place I have found draft non-alcoholic beer was in the Burnbrae out Bearsden way. Draft Bitburger and it was good.
Also read last week that in Germany (of all places) drinking non-alcoholic beer is no longer viewed as 'odd' - and that there are an estimated 400-500 non-alcoholic beers now being brewed by German Brewers (Australia seems to have one - Carlton Zero; Thai and Indonesian efforts are pretty horrid; and they don't do any in Cambodia as Cambodians only drink to get drunk - or so we were told by our Cambodian Ankor Wat guide)
Also read last week that in Germany (of all places) drinking non-alcoholic beer is no longer viewed as 'odd' - and that there are an estimated 400-500 non-alcoholic beers now being brewed by German Brewers (Australia seems to have one - Carlton Zero; Thai and Indonesian efforts are pretty horrid; and they don't do any in Cambodia as Cambodians only drink to get drunk - or so we were told by our Cambodian Ankor Wat guide)
