New research suggests that pubs could be forced to throw away 70m pints of beer since bars were forced to close on 20 March.
The governmentโs recently published road map says that pubs will not reopen until 4 July, at the earliest, which means beer left in cellars will be spoiled.
The British Beer & Pub Association said it is heart-breaking to see so much beer being destroyed, which could amount to ยฃ350m based on the retail cost of ยฃ5 pint of beer, which varies across the UK.
The BBPA member crisis impact survey revealed that โ90% of the beer and pub industry staff have been furloughed.โ
75% of pub companies and breweries are still โawaiting a decisionโ on whether they will receive the government backed loan, and โ40% of grants have been received.โ
Just โ11% of tenants and lessees have been successful with the governments Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS),โ whilst โ56% of business interruption claims have been rejectedโ and โ67% of pandemic claims were rejected.โ
Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA)said, โItโs a great shame that so much great British beer that should have been enjoyed in community pubs up and down the country has gone to waste.
โPeople wonโt have a chance to drink it as it will go off before pubs can reopen.
โWhilst it is good news that some of the beer can be re-used to help out other sectors affected by Covid-19, such as farming, it is still sad that people are unable to enjoy this beer.
โThe need to destroy so much beer really shows how much our brewing and pub sectors have been affected by this crisis.
โWe believe that pubs should only open when safe to do so, but without additional support now, particularly for those who wonโt be able to reopen sooner, many more of our nationโs pubs and the brewers that supply them with beer will struggle to survive closure and beyond.
โThe government needs to give our sector much more support.โ
Leave a Comment