Price of a pint to rise from today following second Diageo price hike this year

Diageo told publicans it would be raising its prices by the equivalent of 4c a pint.

The price of a pint rises even further from today, as Diageo hikes its prices for the second time this year.

In July, the company — whose brands include Guinness, Smithwicks, Harp, Hop House 13, Rockshore and Carlsberg — told publicans it would be raising its prices by the equivalent of 4c a pint.

Sources in the bar industry said that coupled with Vat and other costs, the latest rise will add a minimum of 10c to the price of a pint of Guinness. The increase takes effect from today. 

The price of popular pints in many city centre venues are now well in excess of €6. The latest CSO consumer price index said the average price of a pint of stout in Ireland now stands at over €5.50, up from €5.13 the same time last year.

This second rise of the year means that Diageo has raised prices by 16c a pint, similar to the 17c hike over the past year by its rivals Heineken.

It is understood publicans see these rises as “outrageous” and, while this rise may not appear too large in isolation, it’s giving people “another reason not to go out” at a time when the price of socialising has risen sharply.

“We’re under pressure with costs, it’s very difficult to get staff, the Vat increase from 9% to 13.5% is looming. There’s stuff coming down the road that is worrying and then this comes along,” one publican said. 

"There's a big fear that these price increases are too much."

Diageo said in a statement: “We continue to experience rising input costs across our business operations in Ireland. We are working to manage and absorb much of this, but to maintain a sustainable business, we have written to our customers in the on-trade to advise them of an increase on draught beer list prices of 4 cent per pint. The price change will be applied across the entire draught beer range and will take effect from 14 August.”

- This story was originally published on July 19, 2023