Publicans admit soft drink rip-off

PUBLICANS admit they are ripping off customers with exorbitant prices for soft drinks.

The Dublin-based Licensed Vintners Association (LVA) will contact its 700 members in the coming days to ask them to cut the prices they charge for minerals and bottled water.

National organisation, the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI), with 6,000 members outside the capital, says it also intends addressing the issue which it accepts is a “problem”.

The Beverage Council of Ireland concedes prices are out of hand too but says the Government is partly to blame after making VAT on soft drinks the same as alcoholic beverages.

High prices for soft drinks and bottled water in many pubs and hotels means it works out cheaper for customers to order beers and stouts than to opt for a non-alcoholic alternative.

The drinks industry’s own responsible drinking lobby MEAS (Mature Enjoyment of Alcohol in Society), yesterday challenged its members to give customers a “reasonable choice” by applying a fairer pricing policy.

MEAS chief executive Fionnuala Sheehan said the high price of non-alcoholic drinks relative to alcohol was a barrier to the designated driver campaign the lobby is pushing in the run-up to the festive social season.

“For whatever reason, the cost of a mineral water is more than an alcoholic drink. It would be a disincentive to anyone to go down the route of staying on soft drinks for a night,” she said.

Trade organisations are prevented by competition laws from dictating prices to members but Seamus O’Donoghue of the VFI’s Leinster branch said the federation was keen to address the issue. “We accept fully that there is a problem,” he said.

LVA chairman Kevin Towey said: “We have made the decision to encourage our members to reduce prices on soft drinks or potentially to offer free soft drinks to designated drivers.”

The designated driver campaign is supported by gardaí, the National Safety Council, the AA and the Department of Health. It will be backed by radio ads and free soft drink incentives in pubs which have promoted anti-drink driving initiatives, such as car key drop-off boxes and mini-bus rides home for customers.