Charles Wells tenants face 13.3% Carling price hike

The steep rise, which will take effect in March, was among a number of smaller increases listed in a revised pricing sheet seen by the Publican’s Morning Advertiser​.

Struggling to survive​

One angry licensee, who declined to be named, said the rise would see the average price for a pint of Carling in his pub leap from £3.70 to £4.20 a pint.

“Business is tough as it is without being hit with these massive increases,” he told the PMA​. “I appreciate prices go up, that’s the way of the world, but when they’re going up excessively like this it’s almost as if they don’t want me to survive in my business. We might as well shut up shop now.”

Charles Wells declined to comment, but other tenants contacted by the PMA confirmed they had received a letter detailing impending price rises.

The list revealed that the cost of Estrella would rise by 4%, Beck’s (3.7%), Budweiser (3.5%) and Foster’s (2.6%).

Rising input prices​

Molson Coors, which raised its wholesale selling prices on all draught products by approximately 5p per pint on 13 January, could not comment specifically on Charles Wells’ price rises but said its own increases were due to “rising input prices that affect all brewers”.

“At Molson Coors, we have continued to work hard to cut costs associated with the production and supply of our beers in order to keep the level of increase to a minimum,” said Simon Kerry, finance director at Molson Coors (UK & Ireland).

“We continue to take the long-term view, investing to deliver great customer service and well-supported beer brands.”