With Minimum Unit pricing being introduced at the start of 2022, we thought now is the time to see just how much more the average Irish consumer will have to spend.
Minimum Unit Pricing is essentially the baseline in the price for alcohol, be it wine whiskey, beer, cider etc.
Under the legislation, supermarkets cannot charge less than 10c per gram of alcohol.
No standard alcohol drink can cost less than €1 once this legislation is introduced at the start of 2022.
How much is this going to cost us?
Unfortunately, the days of a can of beer for under €1 are coming to an end. The cheapest beer/cider/liquor will now have a higher baseline price with as much as a 50% increase in the case of some beers.
For those of you who are fond of cans, then pay close attention. A six-pack of standard 4.3% beer will now set you back at least €10.20. That may not sound like a big difference, but what if you look at it over the space of a year.
So, let's say you were to buy six cans at €10.20 every Friday for a year; that will cost you over €530 per year. Or for those special occasions like Paddy's Day or Christmas day, a slab of your favourite 4.3% beer will now set you back at least €40.80.
We haven't forgotten about all you cider drinkers out there. Under minimum pricing, a six-pack of cider at 5.5% abv will cost a minimum of €13.
According to the bill, the minimum price of alcohol will be 10c per gram of alcohol. So, for instance, a 500ml can of 4.2% stout will cost at least €1.68 while all you wine drinkers will have to fork out at least €7.40 on a 12.5% bottle or €8.76 on a strong wine.
Our overall consumption may have dropped in 2020 by 6.6%, but supermarkets saw a massive surge in alcohol purchasing.
Supermarkets such as Aldi and Lidl look set to have the biggest adjustment to make due to their cheap own-brand beer and liquor.
For instance, Lidl currently sells a bottle of Western Gold Bourbon for around €15. Under the new minimum pricing legislation, that cannot be sold for less than €22.08, according to drinkaware.ie.
For a bottle of whiskey at 43% abv, that will cost no less than €23.75.
So if you were to buy one bottle of Western Gold bourbon per month for a year, under current legislation, that would cost you around €180.
Under minimum pricing that will increase to at least €264 - almost a 50% increase.
There's also numerous bottles of wine in various supermarkets around the €6 mark that will increase to at least €7.40, depending on abv.
If a bottle of wine is more to your fancy, then a 12.5% bottle per week at the new minimum pricing will set you back €400 per year. That's over €50 more than you would currently spend on the same wine.
The Minimum Pricing legislation will not affect pubs, clubs or bars as drinks in those establishments already cost more than €1 per standard drink.
