20/01/2026
Been saying it for a long time worth a read
๐บ PUB vs SUPERMARKET ๐
The price of a pint at your friendly local pub is a LOT more than a couple of tins are from the nearest supermarket! No s**t Sherlock! ๐ต๐ปโโ๏ธ
As well as being grossly unfair on the hospitality industry, this difference is also hugely damaging to society!
Soโฆ
๐ Why the price difference? ๐
VAT DISPARITY
๐ Supermarkets pay little to no VAT on food sales, allowing them to subsidise alcohol prices.
๐บ Pubs pay higher VAT (20%) on ALL sales, making it harder to compete.
OVERHEADS
๐ Supermarkets have lower business rates, energy costs, and labour costs compared to pubs.
๐บ Pubs face substantial business rates, higher energy, and increased staff costs, all impacting the final price of a beer.
LOSS LEADERS
๐ Supermarkets use cheap alcohol to draw customers in, who then buy other profitable items.
๐บ Pubs struggle to even offer โhappy hoursโ these days, due to Licensing regulations around promoting excessive drinking.
๐ค Is any of this fair? Is it f**k!
But this goes well beyond fairnessโฆ
There is, obviously, a societal cost associated with alcohol consumptionโฆ
A cost to the NHS and the Police, a cost to families and individuals, a cost to society as a wholeโฆ
Yep, a pub landlord is standing here and saying: booze can indeed be bad! ๐ฑ๐คฏ
BUTโฆ
And itโs a big oneโฆ
(I like big buts and I cannot lie!)
๐บ Pubs facilitate moderate drinking in a controlled and regulated social environment. We are literally licensed and regulated to ensure we keep you safe. And we actually want to keep you safe - we do actually give a s**t about you! A pub is somewhere others can monitor your consumption and well-being, whilst also offering all the social benefits you come here for in the first place.
๐ Supermarkets, on the other hand, take your money and then no further f**ks are given. Without the regulated environment, without the social constraint of a public setting or the need to travel home, it can be easier to drink excessively and in isolation, with all of the negative implications that can carry on both a personal and societal level.
๐ค So what can we do about it?
So long as alcohol continues to be legal in this country (which I firmly believe it absolutely f**king should, becauseโฆbeer! ๐บ๐คค), we have one really bloody obvious optionโฆ
One option that addresses both of the above issues and helps ensure the long term survival of our cultural mainstay: The Great British Pubโฆ
TAX SUPERMARKETS MORE. TAX PUBS LESS.
Itโs literally that simple! ๐คทโโ๏ธ
Encourage public safety and save a British institution all by simply getting taxation the right way round. ๐
Tell me Iโm wrong! Because it seems really bloody obvious to meโฆsurely government can see it too?!?
