Craft Beer Prices

[studio1]

Finally...I found a craft beer that I like availabe in a dozen box for less than $30! (admittedly on special at Farro Fresh in AKL).

So it seems to me that we are sorely lacking in realistically priced craft beer. I wanted to open this up for discussion - obviously there is a supply / demand issue going on which has historically kept the prices high (ie...not enough demand to warrant economies of scale).

But I have many friends now who are slowly waking up to all things beery....but the only affordable/available option to them seems to be something like Coopers. A dozen beers seems a mininimum for a typical party I go to - who can afford a $45-$60 dozen? At the moment it seems people will supplement a mega-swill doz with a few bottles of craft - from what I have noticed.

I'm looking forward to being able to buy a 6 pack of something I really enjoy for around $15 (thats widely available). On my recent trips ot Melbourne/USA craft beer is avaiable at a reasonable price at many suburban (and even rural) bottle shops. Then again...craft beer is available on tap a lot more too.

I guess thats why I brew....

Anyways - will be interesting to hear some thoughts around this.

[studio1]

I'm pretty happy with existing craft prices - it would just be nice to get some tasty ale alternatives to mega-swill for those times when you're buying a dozen or two to take somewhere.

[Soren]

there's a number of reasons why craft beer is expensive, the ones most specific to NZ is excise and market size. NZ has one of the highest excise rates in the world and powerful groups are lobbying to make it even higher! Market size is the other, NZ is simply too small to get some real economies of scale going and maintain diversity at the same time. Exports are starting to pick up though and if we can get a steady stream going across the Tasman (and vice versa) that would really help all of us, including the NZ consumer. In the US, for example, the excise is much lower and the brewers can reach a much much larger group of consumers. It's just one of those things that we gotta live with down here.
But in the end I don't think price is really an issue, not for the kind of beer that I like to drink and make anyways. Most people don't think twice about buying a $4 cuppa coffee a day although you could get 50 cups for that same price buying a jar of instant at the supermarket, what's the difference paying twice the price for good beer? Of course, if you drink 10 cups a coffee a day then that starts to hurt but good coffee is not really meant to be consumed in that quantity, same is true for good beer.

[Greig McGill]

I agree with you for the most part Søren, but I think it's easy for those of us with decent incomes to say "price doesn't matter". There are a ton of potential craft beer fans who will simply never buy it as it's just not realistic for their budgets to do so. If excise was eliminated, craft beer prices could lower to allow a greater uptake, increasing the size of the market.

[James P]

Whilst I agree eliminating excise is a way of allowing a greater uptake, it will also mean a greater increase in alcohol abuse from the availability of crap alcobeer on the market. Look at the governments current strategies, all just seem to be revenue collection.

[Greig McGill]

So punish the abusers. Enforce the law.

[Steve Nally]

excise won't be eliminated. Distribution is one of the big problems.

[Greig McGill]

Not with that attitude Steve! Where's your can-do spirit? ;)

[Steve Nally]

Ah Greig...I think we have more chance with personal responsiblity.

[Stu McKinlay]

12 x 330ml bottles of Tui probably retails for about $15 - about the same price as a bottle of Yeastie boys 'His Majesty' or Hallertau 'Pinot Porter'.

Remove excise (and, for the sake of this exercise, let's assume that manufacturer and retailer leave their margins the same) and you'd end up with the Tui 12-pack dropping to about $11 but the two craft beers would still be close to the $14 mark.

Forget about your Randian libertarian fantasy world for a minute [;-) ;-)] and think about how that looks to the government... the alcohol excise target group (high volume drinkers) are saving more $, which can be invested back into their 'problem'. We save $1.


I'd much prefer to see a progressive excise rate than a total abolishment of excise. Something along the lines of no tax for the first 5,000L of alcohol. There would be plenty of benefits out of this through other revenue streams - for one, just think of the staff per hL of beer brewed at somewhere like Croucher Brewing versus somewhere like DB Waitemata.


And as much as I despise the man (and his hair) I wouldn't mind Peter Dunne's income splitting idea to go ahead too!

[Greig McGill]

Forget about your Randian libertarian fantasy world for a minute

:(

Some of us fight so you don't have to! :P

[Stu McKinlay]

[turns and stares as Grieg McGill rides past on his high-horse]

[Greig McGill]

Awesome. Today I've been called vain AND aloof. What a great day it is.