Baden-Wuerttemberg
“To preserve the pub culture”: First German municipal council decides on beer price brakes for pubs
Two people toast each other in a pub. If it goes to Schwäbisch Hall, it should still be possible at low cost.
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In Baden-Württemberg, there was a surprisingly successful vote in a municipal council: the beer price there should be capped in the future.
In the Baden-Württemberg town of Schwäbisch Hall, the price of a liter of beer is to be capped at four euros. An application by a city councilor from the satirical party The party was surprisingly accepted at a municipal council meeting, the “Haller Tagblatt” reported on Thursday. Accordingly, at the meeting on Wednesday, 13 members of the Council voted in favor of the application and eight against.
The aim of the beer price brake is to “contribute to the preservation of the pub culture”, according to the application. “Local restaurateurs damaged by the pandemic, high energy and raw material prices” are to be supported. Everything that innkeepers charge for more than four euros per liter should be reimbursed by the city according to the will of the applicant from funds already approved for inner-city revitalization.
Beer price subsidies still face legal hurdles
However, the decision has not yet been implemented. According to the “Haller Tagblatt”, the city administration announced that it would examine the proposal, among other things, to determine whether subsidies for alcoholic beverages are legally and practically possible at all.
The decision was made against the background that consumers have to be prepared for higher prices for beer in supermarkets and beverage stores. Industry observers are assuming this after a number of large brewers announced price increases well in advance for the first half of 2022 last autumn. “These are currently being implemented in retail and will certainly also become visible to consumers after Easter,” says market researcher Marcus Strobl from the NielsenIQ Institute.
Retail is under more pressure than in previous years due to high logistics costs, among other things. Nevertheless, the “overdue” beer price increase should be moderate at less than ten percent of the normal price.