Minimum pricing plans may have little impact on wine
A report into the potential impact of the UK government's plans to impose minimum pricing on alcohol has revealed that only 5% of wines are currently being sold in supermarkets at below the proposed minimum price of 40 pence per unit of alcohol. The Wilson Drinks Report looked at a basket of 191 still and sparkling wines in six major supermarkets and found only nine were selling at less than 40p a unit.
However in the spirits category half of all products in the sample were priced below 40p a unit suggesting spirits are likely to be more affected by the policy than wines.
The report also questioned whether it is legal under EU competition law to impose a minimum price and asked whether retailers will keep the extra revenue and who will police the prices.
