Cost of a pint to rise by up to 20c

By Eoin English THE price of the pint is set to rise by as much as 20 cent before the end of the year. Brewing giant Diageo has confirmed it is looking at increasing the wholesale price of its range of products, including Guinness, Budweiser, Harp, Carlsberg and Smithwicks, because of soaring energy and raw materials costs. Baileys, Bushmills and Smirnoff will also be affected. Trade experts suggest the move could see punters paying up to 20 cent more for a pint, with Heineken and C&C likely to follow suit. However, a spokesperson for Diageo rejected that figure and said any price increase would be "likely to be close to 2%, excluding VAT". However, 2% on a €5 pint would see publicans paying up to 10 cent more a pint. Adding on their increase of a further 2c and the Government’s take of 21% VAT, the pint could go up by as... [read full story]