OT: Alcohol Prices

spen666

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tesco calling for there to be minimum priices for alcohol per unit?

If so, perhaps they can explain this
Wine @ £1.11 per bottle

Over to you Tesco

tailwindhome

spen666 wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tesco calling for there to be minimum priices for alcohol per unit?

If so, perhaps they can explain this
Wine @ £1.11 per bottle

Over to you Tesco

Wine for poor people?

That's an outrage.

Makes my blood boil.

What would Diana say?

Stevo_666

Catering to middle class winos? The recession has hit hard but there may be more sophisticated vagrants who wouldn't want to be seen drinking Special Brew.

spen666

TailWindHome wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tesco calling for there to be minimum priices for alcohol per unit?

If so, perhaps they can explain this
Wine @ £1.11 per bottle

Over to you Tesco

Wine for poor people?

That's an outrage.

Makes my blood boil.

What would Diana say?

Got no problem with the pricing of alcohol at all, its the position of Tesco on the one hand calling for higher prices but on the other reducing prices to a minimum. Surely some conflict in what they say and what they do?

rjsterry

spen666 wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tesco calling for there to be minimum priices for alcohol per unit?

If so, perhaps they can explain this
Wine @ £1.11 per bottle

Over to you Tesco

Wine for poor people?

That's an outrage.

Makes my blood boil.

What would Diana say?

Got no problem with the pricing of alcohol at all, its the position of Tesco on the one hand calling for higher prices but on the other reducing prices to a minimum. Surely some conflict in what they say and what they do?

I'm sorry, why are we surprised that Tesco are saying one thing and doing another?

notsoblue

spen666 wrote:

TailWindHome wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tesco calling for there to be minimum priices for alcohol per unit?

If so, perhaps they can explain this
Wine @ £1.11 per bottle

Over to you Tesco

Wine for poor people?

That's an outrage.

Makes my blood boil.

What would Diana say?

Got no problem with the pricing of alcohol at all, its the position of Tesco on the one hand calling for higher prices but on the other reducing prices to a minimum. Surely some conflict in what they say and what they do?

Of course theres conflict, any promotion of social responsibility is just PR. Profit is their bottom line, not social welfare. They function within the framework of laws and regulations set by the government. I don't think you can ever really expect a business to behave ethically. Its the government's job to make sure that their profit making isn't socially detrimental.

spen666

notsoblue wrote:

...

Of course theres conflict, any promotion of social responsibility is just PR. Profit is their bottom line, not social welfare. They function within the framework of laws and regulations set by the government. I don't think you can ever really expect a business to behave ethically. Its the government's job to make sure that their profit making isn't socially detrimental.

i'd argue it is society's job to do this (except that Margaret abolished society didn't she?). We all need to act to defend society from the excesses of profit driven businesses.

marcusjb

Unless I am mistaken - this is costing them money - the duty on a bottle of wine (excluding VAT) is around £1.69 (http://www.wsta.co.uk/Guidance-and-Research.html#2010)

Crazy world

Boy Lard

I was recently very confused by some of Sainsbury's wine pricing. A bottle of red that I quite like, normal £8 a bottle was on offer at 3 bottles for £10. Obviously this makes it virtually impossible for me to buy 1 bottle.

EKE_38BPM

Tesco said there should be minimum pricing for alcohol, but they wouldn't bring it in until everyone else did.
i.e. "Talk is cheap and we will pile it high and sell it cheap until legislation forces us to stop."

Gussio

Next thing you know, they will be selling cheap, battery farm reared chickens.

notsoblue

spen666 wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

...

Of course theres conflict, any promotion of social responsibility is just PR. Profit is their bottom line, not social welfare. They function within the framework of laws and regulations set by the government. I don't think you can ever really expect a business to behave ethically. Its the government's job to make sure that their profit making isn't socially detrimental.

i'd argue it is society's job to do this (except that Margaret abolished society didn't she?). We all need to act to defend society from the excesses of profit driven businesses.

Well for me, Government = Society. I'm not sure what other power people have to defend society other than through government?

spen666

notsoblue wrote:

spen666 wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

...

Of course theres conflict, any promotion of social responsibility is just PR. Profit is their bottom line, not social welfare. They function within the framework of laws and regulations set by the government. I don't think you can ever really expect a business to behave ethically. Its the government's job to make sure that their profit making isn't socially detrimental.

i'd argue it is society's job to do this (except that Margaret abolished society didn't she?). We all need to act to defend society from the excesses of profit driven businesses.

Well for me, Government = Society. I'm not sure what other power people have to defend society other than through government?

no, WE are society

What power do we have?

Public protest
Expressions of displeasure in many forms, letters, internet forums, public demonstrations etc

pastey_boy

if single mums are forced to pay higher prices for their lambrini and 3 litre bottled cider, the knock on effect will be that their fatherless offspring will miss out on many nutritious foods such as cheese strings and dairylea dunkers. little kyle, joshua, nathan and liam will have to manage on asda smartprice meatballs and tesco,s basics corn style flakes. i salute tesco for their cheap booze, as drunken single mums supply a much needed service for many young men

Clever Pun

TailWindHome wrote:

What would Diana say?

this wine tastes horrible?

spen666

pastey_boy wrote:

if single mums are forced to pay higher prices for their lambrini and 3 litre bottled cider, the knock on effect will be that their fatherless offspring will miss out on many nutritious foods such as cheese strings and dairylea dunkers. little kyle, joshua, nathan and liam will have to manage on asda smartprice meatballs and tesco,s basics corn style flakes. i salute tesco for their cheap booze, as drunken single mums supply a much needed service for many young men

usually one drunken single mum supplies the service to several males - often at the same time

tailwindhome

spen666 wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

if single mums are forced to pay higher prices for their lambrini and 3 litre bottled cider, the knock on effect will be that their fatherless offspring will miss out on many nutritious foods such as cheese strings and dairylea dunkers. little kyle, joshua, nathan and liam will have to manage on asda smartprice meatballs and tesco,s basics corn style flakes. i salute tesco for their cheap booze, as drunken single mums supply a much needed service for many young men

usually one drunken single mum supplies the service to several males - often at the same time

Sorry I mentioned Diana now.

spen666

TailWindHome wrote:

spen666 wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

if single mums are forced to pay higher prices for their lambrini and 3 litre bottled cider, the knock on effect will be that their fatherless offspring will miss out on many nutritious foods such as cheese strings and dairylea dunkers. little kyle, joshua, nathan and liam will have to manage on asda smartprice meatballs and tesco,s basics corn style flakes. i salute tesco for their cheap booze, as drunken single mums supply a much needed service for many young men

usually one drunken single mum supplies the service to several males - often at the same time

Sorry I mentioned Diana now.

Clever Pun

TailWindHome wrote:

spen666 wrote:

pastey_boy wrote:

if single mums are forced to pay higher prices for their lambrini and 3 litre bottled cider, the knock on effect will be that their fatherless offspring will miss out on many nutritious foods such as cheese strings and dairylea dunkers. little kyle, joshua, nathan and liam will have to manage on asda smartprice meatballs and tesco,s basics corn style flakes. i salute tesco for their cheap booze, as drunken single mums supply a much needed service for many young men

usually one drunken single mum supplies the service to several males - often at the same time

Sorry I mentioned Diana now.

Chewy Cheeks

This thread looks like its turning into a pretty poor effort at
Wumming and/or trolling.

spen666

Chewy Cheeks wrote:

This thread looks like its turning into a pretty poor effort at
Wumming and/or trolling.

How is debating an issue re businesses saying one thing but doing the opposite trolling?

Are we only allowed to debate issues that meet with your approval?

Is it not a legitimate concern?

seward4or5

spen666 wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tesco calling for there to be minimum priices for alcohol per unit?

If so, perhaps they can explain this
Wine @ £1.11 per bottle

Over to you Tesco

Tesco aren't calling for minimum prices on alcohol, they just need to be seen to support Government, who in turn need to be seen to be doing something about combating the UKs drink problem, even though booze generates huge tax revenue.
Tesco would continue to sell as cheap as possible if it was up to them, as noted by other posters.
Personally, I like low alcohol prices as (these days) I can generally be trusted to drink responsibly, however I do appreciate that prices should be raised for the good of society as a whole.

pastey_boy

Chewy Cheeks wrote:

This thread looks like its turning into a pretty poor effort at
Wumming and/or trolling.[/quote
sorry for coming across all newbish but i dont know what wumming and trolling mean.

pastey_boy

pastey_boy wrote:

Chewy Cheeks wrote:

This thread looks like its turning into a pretty poor effort at
Wumming and/or trolling.[/quote
sorry for coming across all newbish but i dont know what wumming and trolling mean.

i now know what wumming and trolling are after a quick google

notsoblue

spen666 wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Well for me, Government = Society. I'm not sure what other power people have to defend society other than through government?

no, WE are society

What power do we have?

Public protest
Expressions of displeasure in many forms, letters, internet forums, public demonstrations etc

Protest doesn't achieve as much as you think it does. Look how many people protested against the Iraq war. Still happened... Protests and demonstrations are pointless if we don't hold our *elected representatives* to account for issues that really matter. Its only at elections that we really have any power.

spen666

seward4or5 wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tesco calling for there to be minimum priices for alcohol per unit?

If so, perhaps they can explain this
Wine @ £1.11 per bottle

Over to you Tesco

Tesco aren't calling for minimum prices on alcohol,

So this press release from Tesco wasn't issued by Tesco then?

Press Releases
TESCO BACKS ACTION ON ALCOHOL PRICING
21 May 2010

Retailer will end below cost selling if Ministers take the lead

Tesco today became the first UK retailer to support the new coalition government's commitment to ban the sale of alcohol below cost.

Britain's biggest retailer welcomed the commitment as part of its announcement of a wide-ranging package of measures to cut down on anti-social drinking and help consumers keep within healthy drinking limits. Other measures include putting units on the front of bottles of alcohol for the first time, and a major new Community Alcohol Partnership in central London.

It added that should new Ministers decide to opt for a minimum unit price for all beers, wines, ciders and spirits, Tesco would also stand ready to support them on this.

Tesco acted after its latest customer research revealed that almost 70 per cent of consumers believe excessive drinking is one of the most serious issues facing the UK today.

Anti-social behaviour as a result of excessive drinking is the biggest concern for most consumers (61 per cent), while 36 per cent are concerned about the long-term health effects.

Tesco's decision to back a ban on below cost selling and support for a minimum price follows concerns from customers - more than half of those polled - that the availability of cheap alcohol contributed significantly to problem drinking in the UK.

Announcing the measures, Tesco Executive Director for Corporate and Legal Affairs, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, said: "Our research shows that excessive drinking is a major concern to consumers and we now know from our customers that they want us to help address the issue of low cost alcohol which they feel fuels the anti-social behaviour and disorder which affects so many communities.

"Pricing controls can only be effective if they apply to all alcohol retailers and the only way that can happen is through government taking the lead. Any attempt by retailers to form agreements on prices, even with the well intentioned aim of tackling such a serious social issue, could fall foul of competition laws and lead to retailers being fined and potentially prosecuted.

"There is no doubt that price is a factor in the availability of alcohol to a broader range of consumers but the level at which price encourages problem drinking is unproven. Therefore any pricing controls introduced must be carefully considered by government to ensure they are effective. Otherwise the vast majority of sensible consumers could be paying higher prices for no good reason.

"We acknowledge that our own sales of alcohol might be impacted but if these measures have the desired effect of helping to reduce harmful drinking, then it will be worth it.

"So today I welcome the new Government's commitment to act on below cost selling and pledge that we will play a constructive role in government-led action to make this happen. We will also support any future discussions on a minimum price."

But working on price alone is unlikely to be sufficient to change the culture of drinking in the UK and so Tesco will also introduce other measures to help tackle alcohol-related health harms and disorder.

Individual consumers need to take responsibility for their actions, based on clear information. So Tesco will bring the units of alcohol information from the back label to the front of the pack on all own label products and will also work with branded suppliers to develop this as an industry wide standard. This will help consumers make responsible decisions.

For some time Tesco has had strict measures in place to prevent alcohol from being sold to underage customers. Our 'Think 25' policy means that our staff are trained to challenge anyone who looks 25 or under, not just 18. That means it is much harder for those under 18 to buy alcohol from Tesco. We will now offer that training to independent retailers to help them cut down on under age sales.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe continued: "We take our responsibilities as a licensed retailer and towards the communities we serve very seriously, which is why over the last few years we have introduced better labelling and advice for consumers, trained our staff to crack down on under age purchases through our 'Think 25' campaign and supported the authorities on education and enforcement, particularly through local Community Alcohol Partnerships.

"So whilst we stand ready to support government with action on alcohol pricing, it will be important to back these measures with better education, effective monitoring and enforcement of the law against those who abuse drink."

Tesco also announced that it will work with others to create a new Community Alcohol Partnership in central London, which will pilot a series of bold responsible drinking measures and be subject to an independent review to assess its effectiveness. That independent review will ensure that lessons from the exercise can inform actions in other parts of the UK. Leading drinks charity Alcohol Concern will form part of the steering group for the project and provide additional independent scrutiny of the proposed work.

Don Shenker, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern said: "Alcohol Concern welcomes this announcement from Tesco and sees these measures as important first steps towards more responsible supermarket alcohol sales. Tesco's plans acknowledge that consumers themselves want supermarkets to tackle the cheap price of alcohol to reduce alcohol-related harm. We believe this will rightly deter excessive drinking, improve health and save costs. We urge the Government to ensure the 'below-cost' threshold reflects the evidence on the need to reduce alcohol's rising affordability"

ENDS

Notes for Editors:

1. Tesco operates a 'Think 25' policy requiring staff to check the age of all customers looking to buy alcohol. Anyone who looks under 25, as opposed to 18, and cannot provide appropriate identification, will not be sold alcohol in our stores. This policy is backed by continuous training and support for store staff.

2. Tesco was the first supermarket to introduce labels showing the units of alcohol in its own brand alcohol. The Department of Health alcohol label displaying the unit measurement for glass and bottle, the recommended maximum daily intake of alcohol units and agreed health messages is on around 75% of our own label alcohol and we will be at 100% in the next few weeks. In future we will provide information on the front label and encourage our suppliers to do the same on branded drinks.

3. Tesco stores in a number of locations, including St Neots in Cambridgeshire and Broadstairs in Kent, are involved in Community Alcohol Partnerships (CAP). These partnerships, between the off-trade, police, trading standards, schools and the local community, aim to tackle underage drinking through a co-ordinated campaign targeted at young people. Early evidence suggests that CAPs are helping to reduce underage drinking. Tesco will take a lead role in introducing a pilot CAP in a central London location which will aim to tackle anti-social and harmful drinking in a problem area. The results will be independently evaluated and shared with government, the police and the drinks industry.

For further information please contact the Tesco Press Office on 01992 644645. Out of hours the duty press officer can be contacted by calling 01992 644733 and selecting option 2 from the voicemail menu

Tesco Corporate & Legal Affairs, New Tesco House, Delamare Road, Cheshunt, Herts, EN8 9SL
Telephone: 01992 644645 Fax: 01992 644525 http://www.tesco.com/corporate

The press release is oin Tesco's website @ http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/media/pr/pr2010/2010-05-21/

they just need to be seen to support Government, who in turn need to be seen to be doing something about combating the UKs drink problem, even though booze generates huge tax revenue.
Tesco would continue to sell as cheap as possible if it was up to them, as noted by other posters.
Personally, I like low alcohol prices as (these days) I can generally be trusted to drink responsibly, however I do appreciate that prices should be raised for the good of society as a whole.

spen666

notsoblue wrote:

spen666 wrote:

notsoblue wrote:

Well for me, Government = Society. I'm not sure what other power people have to defend society other than through government?

no, WE are society

What power do we have?

Public protest
Expressions of displeasure in many forms, letters, internet forums, public demonstrations etc

Protest doesn't achieve as much as you think it does. Look how many people protested against the Iraq war. Still happened... Protests and demonstrations are pointless if we don't hold our *elected representatives* to account for issues that really matter. Its only at elections that we really have any power.

I'm not sure where you are going with this. It is nothing to do with your government = society argument.

Government are representatives of society only IMO

rjsterry

I'm sure they say they are against below-cost selling of alcohol, but then I'm sure they say they don't abuse the planning system to force new stores on places that don't really want them, as well. I just wonder why you seem at all surprised by this.

seward4or5

spen666 wrote:

seward4or5 wrote:

spen666 wrote:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't Tesco calling for there to be minimum priices for alcohol per unit?

If so, perhaps they can explain this
Wine @ £1.11 per bottle

Over to you Tesco

Tesco aren't calling for minimum prices on alcohol,

So this press release from Tesco wasn't issued by Tesco then?

Press Releases
TESCO BACKS ACTION ON ALCOHOL PRICING
21 May 2010

Retailer will end below cost selling if Ministers take the lead

Tesco today became the first UK retailer to support the new coalition government's commitment to ban the sale of alcohol below cost.


The press release is oin Tesco's website @ http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/media/pr/pr2010/2010-05-21/

they just need to be seen to support Government, who in turn need to be seen to be doing something about combating the UKs drink problem, even though booze generates huge tax revenue.
Tesco would continue to sell as cheap as possible if it was up to them, as noted by other posters.
Personally, I like low alcohol prices as (these days) I can generally be trusted to drink responsibly, however I do appreciate that prices should be raised for the good of society as a whole.

Yes, they are backing a ban, but to say they are calling for it suggests they are initiating it which clearly they are not, just going along with prevaling opinion. I would say this is more a PR reaction that a genuine attempt to stop selling cheap booze, as your example demonstrates.

spen666

The only mention of "initiating " comes from you.

Calling for something is not the same as initiating it.

Chewy Cheeks

Spen

Debating the issue - fine - and its seems as thought this is where its going now.
I really understand the ouitcomes of alcohols availability

The social commentry was what gave me the pip - looking down on folk and
stereotyping.