Just 8% of alcohol products in supermarkets would be affected by minimum pricing

Just 8% of alcohol products not on special offer in supermarkets would be affected by a move to a minimum alcohol price of 40p per unit.

That's the finding of a recent survey by market research firm Brand View, which looked at prices of beer, lager and cider in Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Waitrose as of 12 April.

The research showed that only 8% had a base price (non-promoted) of below 40p per unit, more than one-third of them own-label.

Brand View said that although Tennents, Stella 4% and Strongbow's products were, on average, above the minimum price per unit, they were the brands most at risk of having to change their pricing as a result of the new laws. All three brands currently have products priced below 40p per unit, with Strongbow having half its products below the threshold.

Meanwhile, brands such as Budweiser might also be affected because, despite the fact that it has an average cost per unit at above 55p, one-third of its range sits below 50p per unit. Brand View said that over the past 90 days the average depth of cut of promotions in the category had been 20.7%, which meant that if Budweiser was to run a promotion at that saving, one-third of its products would fall below 40p per unit.

The report said that cider would probably be the hardest hit, with Strongbow, own-label and other brands potentially being forced to significantly raise their prices. The likes of Magners, Bulmers and Gaymers all have a relatively high price per unit (above 63.8p per unit), with Kopparberg at 96.2p per unit.

By Neil Gerrard

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