Happy talk

The pub trade is tightening up its act on promotions in a bid to tackle binge-drinking. Isn't it the supermarkets' turn now? Daniel Pearce reports.

The raft of newspaper, TV and radio stories about a ban on happy hours and other promotions in pubs was the first positive PR the industry has received for months. Breaking last Monday morning on the front page of the Daily Mirror, with paid-for-policing awaiting debate in the House of Commons following the Queen's Speech, it was a timely moment for pubs to demonstrate that they are serious about tightening up the industry.

But it wasn't just a PR exercise, carefully managed by the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA), this was the pub industry drawing a line in the sand after one criticism in the newspapers too many - we're fighting back.

With all 70 of the pubcos and brewers who make up the BBPA signing up to the agreement, it was an impressive commitment, even if once again some pub tenants seem to have found their pubcos making promises for them that they know little about.

One of the media's first questions has been "Why isn't the whole industry signing up to it?"

It may be 32,000 pubs, or it may be less if tenants don't give it their full support - but that's 32,000 more pubs than supermarkets which are now committed to cutting out promotions which could encourage binge-drinking.

Can pubs now force some of the binge-drinking spotlight and the bad press onto the off-trade for a change?

Setting out its stall​

Mark Hastings, communications director for the BBPA, said the new policy has put the trade firmly on the front foot.

"The pub industry has set out its stall very clearly indeed and said these are the things that we are no longer going to do," he said.

BII chief executive John McNamara warmly supported the initiative. "Irresponsible drink promotions fuel binge-drinking, which has been identified as a problem in many of our city centres," he admitted.

"The BBPA represents more than 50 per cent of the pubs in the UK, and we hope that this move will put pressure on the remaining pubs to follow suit."

It may do. But it has also ramped up the pressure on the supermarkets. In a society where happy hours and all-you-can-drink-for-£8 deals in pubs and clubs are set to become a thing of the past, under-£10 beer case deals and three-for-£10 wine offers in the off-trade are going to look increasingly out of place.

Although the supermarkets deny it, the BBPA's Mark Hastings contends that more and more drinkers are buying cheap alcohol from off-licences and consuming it in the street.

"A large proportion of town-centre drunkenness is fuelled not only by supermarket sales, but by sales in those supermarkets' own convenience stores, which are often sited next to pubs," declared Mr Hastings. "Anyone who runs a pub in a town centre knows all too well the impact of one of the supermarket's convenience stores. It's perfectly legitimate now for us to turn to the supermarkets and say 'why not join us?'."

Taking it seriously​

Why not then, Tesco? The retail giant is far and away the UK's number one supermarket, and is now close to challenging the Co-op for the number one position in convenience retailing too, with a 29.8 per cent share of the total grocery market (Taylor Nelson Softres, April 2005).

A spokeswoman for the retailer claimed Tesco took the issue seriously and admitted that supermarkets needed to look at alcohol pricing.

But she added: "Our customer research shows that the majority of alcohol bought in our stores is actually bought with the family weekly shop.

"We understand we have a role to play and that role is to provide customers with the information they need to make an informed choice. We were the first major supermarket to print the number of alcohol units on the back of all our beer labels, wines and spirits, almost a decade ago. We have also added the recommended daily allowances to own-label alcoholic drinks so customers have the information they need."

That may be - but how many shoppers are likely to stop and look at the packaging before they pick up another 24-can case of Castlemaine XXXX for £9.99?

The British Retail Consortium, which represents all of the UK's major retailers, said it was still in talks with the BBPA and others about a general code of practice for selling alcohol.

But director-general Dr Kevin Hawkins told The Publican that supermarkets were not a major contributor to binge-drinking.

"Drink is not consumed on the premises and it is not drunk under a time restraint. The fundamental problem in town locations is the proliferation of licensed premises in certain areas. When you get too many outlets you have excessive competition."

In any case, continued Dr Hawkins, the same competition rules which prevent minimum pricing schemes in pubs stops the supermarkets from going any further.

"Any agreement to restrict price would be illegal," he said. "But we are looking at improving alcohol labelling. We are also looking at how alcohol promotions are presented in store, and ensuring they are confined to a particular area.

"But pricing must be left to individuals - if there is any kind of formal agreement it only needs one consumer to challenge it to the Office of Fair Trading and the industry is in trouble."

With the pub industry continuing to publicly clean up its act on binge-drinking, perhaps the supermarkets will find themselves in trouble more as the debate moves on.

The BBPA code​

The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) code does not seek to outlaw all promotions, only irresponsible promotions - those which, it says, "encourage excessive drinking or drunkenness, encourage anti-social behaviour or offend common standards of decency".

Examples of promotions which BBPA members have agreed should not be operated include:

• Reward schemes which are redeemable over short periods - for example "Get a free T-shirt if you buy 10 pints this week"
• Drinking games
• Promotions involving large amounts of free drinks - for example "Women drink free"
• Entry fees linked with unlimited amounts of drinks - for example "All you can drink for £8.99"
• Promotions that are an incentive to speed drinking or encourage people to down their drinks in one - for example, "If you finish your first bottle of wine by nine, the next one is on us"
• Promotions linked to unpredictable events - for example "Free drinks for five minutes after every England goal!"

The full guidance - Point of Sale Promotions: Standards for the Management of Responsible Drinks Promotions including Happy Hours - is available on the BBPA website, www.beerandpub.com.