Why is Foreign Beer so Expensive in the UK?

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ClarenceBoddicker

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I can't work this out. My long-term plan is to open a Belgian Beer Cafe and Shop and sell the best Belgium has to offer. Having lived there for 4 years I had plenty of experience as a buyer and it really is quite cheap.

As a simple example, a bottle of Duvel would cost less than 1 Euro from a supermarket in Belgium (if you bought an 8 pack and you get 10 cents back for every empty). The cheapest I have seen it here is £1.75 in Sainsbury's and it is considerably more elsewhere (as much as £2.69 in a specialist beer shop).

I'm no retail expert (clearly) but I reckoned import tax would only work out as about 12p on a small bottle of strong beer. I know they have to make a profit and factor in delivery but this is crazy!

I'm off over there next month to pick up some crates of beer for myself from Brasserie de la Senne - my favourite brewery these days. Their bottles are more expensive and normally only available from specialist drinks sellers - they are still far less than 2 Euro each though.
 
Check out your wholesale costs.
eg...You can purchase a bottle of Duval for £1.00 from your supplier now to make profit on this you must multiply this by 3.36% then add 20% VAT, That is the reason beer is so expensive
 
Ill try again....Purchase cost from wholesailer £1.00
£1.00 x 3.36 (GP) =£3.36 plus VAT @20% = £4.03
Now no one is going to pay £4.03 for a bottle of Duval in a pub, so you have to drop your GP %
 
Fair enough - so I can't just set up a shop and undercut everyone massively then. Pity. I need some business sense before I get started!
 
Please excuse me Im very tired after a busy week working things like this out. Please disregard the above calculations. I was working on Food and Beverage industry standards and figures. The following is correct:-
Cost = £1.00 x 2 (GP) + VAT @ 20% = £2.40 per bottle sale
 
Maybe I am stating the obvious here, but if you can buy it retail from a super market for less than €1 then you could get that from a wholesalers for a lot less, maybe 50p.

Maybe you can try selling some nice Belgian chocolates as well.
 
Maybe I am stating the obvious here, but if you can buy it retail from a super market for less than €1 then you could get that from a wholesalers for a lot less, maybe 50p.

Maybe you can try selling some nice Belgian chocolates as well.
Unfortunatley ..no...how many products have you bought that state "not for re-sale". This means that a pub owner cannot go to theyre local supermarket and buy stock to re-sell. The manufacturer (sp) has done a deal with the supermarket to sell the product at a set price. Ill give you a random example:-
1ltr bottle of Smirnoff Vodka
Tesco/Sains/Morri/...whoever £20.00
Retail £22.00...you cant even buy it for less from a supermarket than you can from the wholeseller. This is because Tesco/ Sains/Morrisons dictate to he manufacturers how much they will sell theyre product for...this is not entirely true...loss leaders etc etc etc
 
And, My Opinion Only...Now that we are led to believe that as a nation we have come out of the "prosperity measures" I foresee the big 4 supermarkets, with Xmas coming they will be selling 750ml bottles of branded spirits at £10.00 a go, JMHO
 
I was in Antwerp recently on a beer holiday (amazing) and the whole time there, I thought, in the right location, this would really work at home.

The beers are so varied & amazing, they're served by knowledgeable staff in the correct manner, in the correct glass and presented brilliantly. They all had a nice out door seating area in the summer too and the decor of the places I went to was really cool (huge wooden casks with tables inside, hop vines on the ceiling etc)...

If live near Chester, which has loads of pubs, but to my knowledge only one place that sells belgians, and even then, you're talking mainly mainstream bottles from Belgium at £4+ per 330ml or the odd time La Chouff or something on tap which was also about £4 a glass. A Belgian bar would do really well here imo if it was marketed properly.
 
There is a wonderful Belgium bar in Altrincham, Manchester.

I lived in the Benelux for 4 years and so have been to a fair few bars :-) and found this to be on par with most places there. The only thing missing was boiled eggs on sale. Maybe thats more of a Dutch thing but I love a Boiled egg with me beer.
 
We used to have pickled eggs in our local, they went down a treat with a pint.

pickled_eggs_in_jar3.jpg
 
i just came back from 4 years in belgium and Antwerp was my favourite city. That bar with the hops on the ceiling is brilliant, can't remember the name. my dream is to open a belgian beer cafe and small shop and i think you just need the right location for success.
 
That will be Kulminator. That was my favourite place, also bier centraal and golum were good. I like that de koninck seemed to be the 'stock beer' there and everywhere had tripel karmeliet... best beer city ive been to
 
Went into a craft beer and home brewing shop in Bury St Edmunds on Sunday. I was going to buy a bottle of American beer just for comparison purposes. In there they were selling Sierra Nevada pale ale, £2.45 for 33cl!!
I didn't bother getting one as I couldn't justify spending this much on a small bottle of beer. :nah:
 

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