Beer prices set to increase, warns Cobra founder

Beer drinkers are going to have to pay more for their pints because the industry faces a “vicious cycle” of surging costs, the founder of Cobra Beer said today (7).

Lord Bilimoria, who is also the current president of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said soaring costs across the supply chain, from manufacturing and energy to freight and staffing, meant prices would have to rise.

“Our input costs in every way – bottling, energy – are up,” he told BBC Radio 5 live’s Wake Up to Money programme. “Freight costs have soared, sometimes 10 times. Wages are increasing and on top of that there are labour shortages.

“It does mean that businesses have to put up prices. But the consumer is already feeling the squeeze. It is a really challenging situation for everyone.”

Saying that “price rises are a necessity, there is no running away from that,” Bilimoria reiterated his opposition to the government’s plan to increase national insurance in April. 

“This is completely the wrong time to do this,” he said. “It will stifle investment, it will stifle growth.”

Inflation in the UK is at a 30-year high of 5.4 per cent, with the figure expected to reach 7 percent by April.

Bilimoria statement comes a day after Tesco chairman John Allen warned Britons that the worst of food price rise is yet to come.

While speaking at BBC’s programme, Allen said that food prices in the supermarket giant’s rose only 1 percent last quarter but are likely to be rising by 5 percent by the spring.

He admitted some people will “of course” have less to spend on luxuries, as it comes at the same time as a National Insurance hike and a £693 rise in the average family’s annual energy bill, to £1,971.