The UK-based Wine and Spirit Trade Association has said that wine duty increases, which are to be introduced at midnight tonight, mean that businesses and consumers are being 'dealt yet another painful blow' in the month before Brexit.
The duty increases will see the price of a bottle of wine rise by 7p, sparkling wine go up by 9p, and fortified wine rise by 9p, the WSTA said.
Based on volumes of wine sales last year from today UK consumers of wine and sparkling wine will collectively be hit with an extra £90 million bill, the group noted.
'A Bad Time'
"This comes at a particularly bad time for the UK wine industry – the threat of a no-deal Brexit is still on the table with the Government continuing to refuse to rule out leaving the EU without a deal on 29th March," said Mile Beale, WSTA chief executive.
"If this happens and the UK does leave without a deal, tariffs on wine from the EU will apply, meaning wine prices will rise by 20p per bottle for still wine and 37p for sparkling wine.
“These price rises are a direct result of the Government’s refusal to back the UK’s wine industry - which supports 190,000 UK jobs - and its active decision to pass on a punishing duty rise; and the Government’s inability to the UK’s trading relationship with the EU, from where over half our wine is sourced."
Some 64% of UK adults drink wine, according to WSTA data.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
