Wetherspoon and Heineken resolve drinks supply row
The dispute started after Wetherspoon said that the drinks group refused to supply Heineken lager (Ireland’s biggest-selling draught beer) and Murphy’s stout to the company’s new pub in Dun Laoghaire in the Republic of Ireland.
As of 9 December, Wetherspoon had said it would no longer trade with Heineken at any of its 926 pubs in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
JDW said that Heineken also demanded personal guarantees from chief executive, John Hutson, in order to supply any other products for the Dun Laoghaire pub.
Wetherspoon has been selling Heineken lager and Murphy’s at under three euros a pint in its first pub in the Republic of Ireland, The Three Tun Tavern at Blackrock, against an average price in Irish pubs of around five euros.
'Constructive'
Wetherspoon commercial director Paul Hine said: "We are pleased to have reached agreeable commercial terms with Heineken. In the Republic of Ireland we will serve the three Heineken products at prices in line with our other products."
The company said that in the Republic of Ireland, its pubs will serve Beamish, Fosters and Symonds Cider.
Wetherspoon’s pubs in the UK will serve Heineken, Fosters, Kronenbourg 1664, Strongbow, John Smith’s Extra Smooth and Amstel.
A Heineken spokesman told the Publican's Morning Advertiser: “We are pleased to confirm that our supply of beer and cider to the JD Wetherspoon UK estate has resumed, and it is business as usual.”
Both parties said they had held “constructive” talks since JDW made the decision to end its supply agreement with Heineken.
JDW chairman Tim Martin joked to The Times: "A fair and reasonable Irish compromise is on the cards. Naturally, both sides will be dissastisfied."
