Britain’s Wine and Spirits Trade Association (WSTA) has said that the price of an average bottle of wine could increase by £0.53 (about 10%), caused by the impacts of Brexit, alcohol duties, and inflation.
The average price of sparkling wine, on which duty is higher, could increase by 9%, or £0.59. The cost of bottles of champagne, meanwhile, may rise by about a pound, with prices going up by 5% on the luxury French product.
The WSTA is imploring Philip Hammond, the UK’s chancellor of the exchequer, to reduces taxes on wine, and has produced its own economic forecast which suggests this would be in the best interest of both the industry itself, as well as the nation.
The lobby group said a ‘2% cut would boost the wine and spirits industry economic contribution by £2.9bn and also increase Treasury revenues by £368m.'
Bursting The Bubble
Miles Beale, the chief executive of WSTA, says he hopes the government doesn’t “burst the bubble for couples enjoying a romantic drink on Valentine’s Day by adding further costs to their bottle of bubbles with wine duty increases.
"With Brexit costing 29p per bottle and rising inflation indicated by the Bank of England last week adding a further 17p, further duty rises could make it a triple whammy for consumers who are already paying a staggering amount of wine and spirit duty.”
“There is now less than a month to go before the Chancellor unveils his Budget - we are urging Philip Hammond to recognise the monumental challenge facing an industry that supports 270,000 jobs and contributes £19.9bn to the economy by making a 2% duty cut,” he added.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
