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Hundreds of Britain’s independent brewers are bracing themselves for an uphill struggle in the wake of forecasts that the main raw materials in beer — malted barley and hops — are about to rocket in price because of climate change.
This year’s barley and hop harvests have both been badly affected by the wet summer and as a result, the cost of barley has risen by nearly 40 per cent in the past year, with hop prices going up by 100 per cent for some varieties.
Peter Amor, chairman of SIBA, the Society of Independent Brewers, whose 400 members brew thousands of distinctive draught and bottled beers, said the price rises threatened jobs both in breweries and in pubs throughout the country at a time when there was a misguided clamour for higher taxes on beer to combat binge-drinking.
“After wages, raw materials represent the biggest single expenditure by small brewers, who now face the dilemma of whether to put up their prices and lose trade or absorb the higher costs and take the risk of their businesses becoming economically unsound,” said Mr Amor, whose family-run Wye Valley Brewery in Hereford produces more than 4 million pints a year and employs 27 people directly.
“Beer is one of few things we still make in Britain and much of it is the traditional draught variety sold in pubs that are supervised by trained licensees. The good old British pub, an institution of which we should be so proud, is not, by and large, the culprit in binge drinking. We should remember that some supermarkets are selling alcoholic drinks at less than cost price and have no control over the subsequent behaviour of their customers.”
By Michael Hardman - SIBA Public Relations Manager
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