Spoons give Heineken a kick

[mcgrath]

Having been there once. The 2.50 pints of Beamish would be my main reason to return.

[irish_goat]

€2.50 is reasonable for a pint of Beamish and I agree it's got a bit more flavour than a Murphy's or Guinness Draught but it's still quite bland compared to a proper craft stout. I also find the finish and the mouthfeel of the macro stouts to be very lacking and not really what you expect when you they're called "stout".

Will be interesting to see how this pan outs but I imagine there's a few very angry heads in Amsterdam right now and someone in Heineken Ireland will be packing up their desk. How far off are Fran Well from their new build? They could potentially fill the stout void.

[mr hoppy]

Basically, Wetherspoons is coming in from the UK where - as a big chain - it can dictate to breweries and trying the same tactics here - where the breweries dictate to publicans. Heineken's just defending it's brand / price point in the Irish market. Bigger picture is that Heineken's global revenues are nearly EUR 20 billion, so Wetherspoons represents less than 0.5% of that, so on the face of it a 6% drop in the share price (from a 52 week high) looks like an over-reaction. Not a Heineken fan particularly by the way.

[Greg2013]

Basically, Wetherspoons is coming in from the UK where - as a big chain - it can dictate to breweries and trying the same tactics here - where the breweries dictate to publicans. Heineken's just defending it's brand / price point in the Irish market. Bigger picture is that Heineken's global revenues are nearly EUR 20 billion, so Wetherspoons represents less than 0.5% of that, so on the face of it a 6% drop in the share price (from a 52 week high) looks like an over-reaction.

Ok but why does Heineken care what their beer is sold for by JDW when they have been paid anyway ? Sorry but i just don't understand this and i would like to know.

"So, do the brewers give the beer to the pubs for free there and then they pay them off of the profits? Trying to figure out why they care about the minimum price per pint."(from a Canadian Brewer friend)

[irish_goat]

Ok but why does Heineken care what their beer is sold for by JDW when they have been paid anyway ? Sorry but i just don't understand this and i would like to know.

"So, do the brewers give the beer to the pubs for free there and then they pay them off of the profits? Trying to figure out why they care about the minimum price per pint."(from a Canadian Brewer friend)

2 main reasons;

1. If JDW are selling cheap Heino then other pubs will start to ask why they can't buy it cheap. Remember, this is beer that sells for €1 in an offlicense yet costs a pub €2+. Heineken (and Diageo) aren't keen for the good times to end.
2. Heineken likes to market itself as a "premium" lager i.e. all that advertising don't come cheap! It's a basic form of price discrimination. They set minimum prices for their other brands e.g. Tiger and Paulaner as well. JDW selling it cheaper would damage the "premium" nature of the brand.

[Greg2013]

So basically Heineken are being bullies and JDW are the first to stand up to them in this country and they don't like the naughty child speaking up ?

[johnrm]

I worked in Heineken briefly. Its one big marketing and image operation painted as a premium brand.
Heineken pay mountains of cash to sponsor events, sailing, rugby etc. A chunk of the cash you hand over goes towards this.
Of course they don't want their brand cheapened.

[mr hoppy]

So basically Heineken are being bullies and JDW are the first to stand up to them in this country and they don't like the naughty child speaking up ?

Yes and no. Basically, JDW is used to being the big bullies kicking brewers around in the UK so they are using the same tactics here.

[DEMPSEY]

These big brand company's don't like people selling their brands lower than premium price. Sony did the same thing to any shop that wanted to reduce the price on Sony products.

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

They probably have the vintners in their other ear telling them that they will drop it country wide if they allow spoons to sell at a low price.

[brenmurph]

So if spoons drive a drop in price how will craft brewers manage to rdduce their prices.. Will dis result in craft beer quality cutbacks to meet pressure

[irish_goat]

Prices in the north and Britain haven't plummeted because of spoons. The Vinters can cry all they want but if Heineken and Diageo tell them they're not gonna drop their wholesale prices then they won't lower prices in the bars.

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

Lots of ways to increase efficiency Bren without impacting quality, eg form a co op for purchasing raw materials. The first step is to measure everything then identify losses  and where improvements can be made. Hop utilisation would have to be a particular area requiring investigation, are they getting the desired EBUs for the hop input are they measuring this? Energy recycling is another major area where savings can be made

[brenmurph]

Agree rory. I wasnt saying the quality wud drop but could depending on how much pressure is on. Am i right in saying a keg of heino comesvinto a pub at  roughly same price as oharas bru trouble?  Anyway its most likely prices wil stay high

[oblivious]

So if spoons drive a drop in price how will craft brewers manage to rdduce their prices.. Will dis result in craft beer quality cutbacks to meet pressure

I think O'Sheas  PA is a good examples of what can be done where margins and resources are looked at. 

But is there a massive difference in price in a craft keg and Heineken or is the difference at point of sale ie the bar?