Noé Chaillot // Photo credit: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP 9:02 a.m., November 3, 2024
As part of the Social Security financing bill, various products, such as tobacco, sugar and alcohol, find themselves in the government’s sights. MEPs voted in the Social Affairs Committee for an increase of almost a billion euros. Beer is not immune to this revaluation, which worries brewers in the Grand-Est.
The last straw for the brewers. As part of the Social Security financing bill, various products, such as tobacco, sugar and alcohol, find themselves in the government’s sights. MEPs voted in the Social Affairs Committee for an increase of almost a billion euros.
But after having faced the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase in the cost of energy, Laurie, brewer for ten years in the heart of Strasbourg, fears a fall in sales: “No one is going to be able to take their margins there – above. So if our products are more expensive, obviously, we will have fewer sales.
“We’ll think twice, perhaps, before offering a tour with our friends”
The pint of beer would increase from around seven to nine euros. Thomas and Sébastien, leaning on the bar, will not be able to follow: “We are among friends and we will decide to offer a tour. But we will think twice, perhaps, before offering a tour with his friends. It could perhaps affect purchasing power depending on how many times you go to the bar per week. I don’t see why we tax a beer that is five or six degrees? of alcohol, maybe we’ll go out less, that’s for sure.
In the end, the brewer will probably have to reluctantly put the least quality beers on display: “People who have the lowest purchasing power will still find themselves with lower quality products , which is clearly not our objective.” The brewery unions of the Great West are calling on the government to immediately eliminate this potential increase.