”Drink inflation” in Great Britain: they would tempt beer consumers with a lower alcohol content

Cost reduction for beer producers: not for public welfare, but for taxes

Beer manufacturers do not reduce the alcohol content primarily to protect the health of consumers. Under a regulation last year, UK drinks with an alcohol content between 1.3% and 3.4% will be subject to a lower excise duty of £9.27. If the alcohol content rises to 3.5%, the rate of tax more than doubles to £21.1p. So, thanks to Grolsch’s reduced alcohol content, a pint of beer is taxed at just 16p, compared to 43p for higher alcohol drinks.

Grolsch is not the only beer to be watered down to reduce taxes: Kronenburg has already reduced its alcohol content from 5% to 4.6%, and Carlsberg has said that consumers want a weaker beer. Journalists have dubbed this new phenomenon “drinkflation,” as beer producers try to protect their prices from rising taxes by lowering alcohol content.

Consumer habits and the new trend of “watered down beer”.

Asahi beer maker, which also owns Central European brands such as Kozel, Pilsner Urquell and Radegast, told the British industry magazine Grocer that by reducing the alcohol content of Grolsch, they wanted to respond to “changing trends” and thus meet the habits and needs of consumers. taken into account when making the decision. Some customers, however, received the announcement with skepticism. The Sun tabloid reported, quoting a social media user, that “there’s no point in drinking it like this”, which clearly shows the reluctance of traditional beer drinkers towards the “low alcohol” solution.