Last week The Publican launched a new campaign against supermarkets that are using alcohol as a loss leader.
We all saw the deals over Christmas - 48 cans of a top brand of lager for less than £20.
It's utter lunacy. The cheap deals are plastered all over newspapers and the television, to drive more customers into their stores.
In an age when the government and media are in a frenzy over health, binge-drinking, and drunk and disorderly behaviour, this sort of attitude is unacceptable and, to be frank, unethical.
But despite this it's the pub trade that always gets the blame. When binge-drinking hits the headlines, it's the pub licensees and trade associations that get hauled up in front of the TV cameras or onto the Today programme.
And that's why it is time to take a stand against the supermarkets. The off-trade has brought this action upon itself through its total refusal to accept its role in the binge-drinking debate.
Over the last three years many high-ranking political meetings have taken place in Westminster on the subject of alcohol-related disorder.
According to one industry insider the big four supermarkets have "thumbed their noses" at the entire process. On at least two separate occasions supermarket chiefs have not turned up to meetings called by ministers including David Blunkett and Tessa Jowell. They either sent a representative of the British Retail Consortium or a junior colleague totally unsuited to the task.
When the on-trade was asked for similar representation the chief executives of Enterprise Inns, Punch Taverns and Mitchells & Butlers all attended. Quite simply it showed that one side of the industry was paying due attention to the problem and the other was not. And insiders say the behaviour of the supermarkets has increasingly angered the governmental departments involved.
The on-trade has to a large degree got its house in order. The days of promotions such as "All you can drink after a £10 entry" or "Two for the price of one before 8pm" are long gone thanks to a voluntary code on promotions set up by the British Beer & Pub Association.
The only way to bring the off-trade into line is to get the government to understand the issue. When the government told supermarkets to act over under-age purchasing, they responded. And they have done a good job. They were one of the first and best advocates of the Challenge 21 programme. But with price
promotions supermarkets have persistently ducked the issue.
When in July they were accused of retailing alcohol in an irresponsible manner, two of them hit back.
Tesco said: "We adopt a responsible approach to the promotion of alcohol. We have very strict procedures for dealing with the sale of alcohol and our research shows that most of the alcohol purchased by our customers is bought as part of the weekly family shop and consumed at home."
Sainsbury's said: "We support sensible drinking and while we do run promotions on beer and other products, we wholly support the government's weekly alcohol consumption guidelines."
The facts
Bargain basement booze over Christmas reached rock-bottom levels
Asda: Foster's - 47p/pint, Strongbow - 53p/pint, Carling - 53p/pint
Sainsbury's: Carling - 54p/pint, Stella bottles - 67p/pint
Tesco: Foster's - 54p/pint
Morrisons: Grolsch - 76p/pint
People drink at home before they go out
A BBPA Licensing Act YouGov poll gave people the statement: "I usually have a few drinks before going out."
Fourteen per cent of pub-goers said that this was true. However, this figure rose to 29 per cent for 18 to 24-year-olds.
There can be no doubt this behaviour contributes to drunk and disorderly problems in pubs and on the streets
Licensees who sell alcohol in a pub can control the environment it is drunk in whereas supermarkets cannot. Supermarkets sell many products cheaply, or even at a loss - including CDs and clothes. Doing this with alcohol is just wrong.
Industry Comment
"We are urging all consumers to write to their MP to sign the EDM. It's a campaign where everyone agrees, except the supermarkets!! And I think this is starting to make them look a bit silly and arrogant. They should not be using alcohol to attract people into their stores. I think we will see a code of conduct agreed by the end of the year."
Mike Benner, chief executive, CAMRA
"To use alcohol as a footfall driver is irresponsible and this has been leading people to drink more. I thought there was some momentum [from off-trade towards working together with on-trade] on this until I saw the price-cutting at Christmas."
Scott Waddington, chief executive, SA Brain
"The big issue with supermarkets is price promotion. We are not allowed to do that in the on-trade and there should be parity on that level and no price promotions. But after that it is up to the on-trade to provide a great experience for customers. We should not blame supermarkets for all of our problems."
Peter Linacre, chief executive, Massive Pub Company
"The pricing of alcohol in supermarkets is irresponsible. Not only does it let people know where to go to buy cheap alcohol it is in some way glamorising it. It gives the message that it is ok. Why do they use alcohol? If they want to run footfall-driving promotions - why not specifically focus on responsible goods like healthy fish and organic vegetables?"
Ted Tuppen, chief executive, Enterprise Inns
How you can help
- Write to your MP and ask him to sign EDM 495. This early day motion urges supermarkets to follow the example of pubs and act to end irresponsible drinks promotions.
- We need to raise the number of signatures to well over 100 for anyone in government to take notice of it.
- We can't simply ask supermarkets to raise their prices as competition law says that is illegal. So when you write to your MP do not focus on this issue - instead focus on the irresponsible promotion of these cheap deals and the effect they are having on your pub and community.
- If your time is at a premium then why don't you log onto www.thepublican.com/dumpthedeals where you will find a sample letter to download and adapt as appropriate.
This is a campaign to help you but we also need your input. Please email me on adamw@thepublican.com and tell me about what supermarket pricing is doing to your business.