A beer during carnival will soon be even more expensive

Also last month Many products and services have become more expensive, the Central Bureau of Statistics confirmed many people’s sentiments this morning. As a consumer, you even paid about 14% more for food and drinks than in December 2021. Restaurant entrepreneurs also pay more for their beer and, out of necessity, pass it on to the customer.

Since 1 January, restaurant entrepreneurs have been paying 10.7% more for Heineken beer. At Grolsch this is about 7%.

Also in Breda. There, beer will cost a lot during next month’s carnival more than in the previous edition: lager beer therefore costs not 3 but 3.30 euros. “It’s the first time we’ve seen such an increase in costs during the holiday season,” says Peter van Belle, owner of a hotel and restaurant.

Van Belle is one of eighty entrepreneurs who voted on the price of the ‘leutpenning’, a currency of payment during the carnival. According to the operator, beer prices are a touchy subject. “Just like the price of petrol, it directly affects people. But we are held responsible for it, because we are the last stop.”

Restaurant entrepreneur Farid Bicane explains why beer is getting more expensive;

Van Belle calls the price increase significant, but the entrepreneur isn’t concerned. “If you celebrate a good carnival for three days and drink twenty beers a day, then you’re not even two dozen more expensive than normal. We’ve also been in the house for a long time, so I think people would like to have a party.”

Heineken already raised prices for entrepreneurs twice last year – by 3.4% and 5.8% respectively. This is now more than 10 percent. “Whether it’s transportation, raw materials or packaging materials, prices are through the roof when it comes to producing, packaging and transporting our beers,” says a spokesperson.

According to the company, Heineken doesn’t even charge all costs to the restaurant industry. “We absorb some of these cost increases ourselves. But we cannot avoid passing these price increases on to the customers. It is up to the restaurant entrepreneur whether and to what extent to increase the prices.”

Not everyone raises prices or with such jumps. Hertog Jan, Jupiler and other beers from beer giant AB Inbev have not gotten more expensive since January 1. The last time was in October. According to a spokesperson, it is unknown what prices will be this year for the restaurant and retail sectors.

The countless small Dutch breweries are also implementing price increases, even though they appear to be much smaller than the “big” beer brands. For example, the Gooische Bierbrouwerij says it will raise its prices by around 5% this year, but it also doesn’t want to pass on the entire cost increase.

“We are a local business and we see the man or woman drinking our beer,” says co-owner Guido de Wit. Supplies in the region and to national supermarkets. “We’re not afraid of customers leaving differently, but we do have a loving heart for them—they’re having a tough time too,” says De Wit.

By limiting that price increase, the entrepreneur says he is depleting his reserves. “But as we grow as a company, for example, we hope to compensate for that loss of income. Ultimately, it’s also about the question: How much is the customer willing to pay? And eventually this will stop.”

Peter Rosendal runs both Twentse Bierbrouwerij and a liquor store with which he supplies the hospitality industry. He raised the prices of his beers by about 6% in the summer. “That’s all we do now. We try to keep it small and encompassing, we always say.”

For the drinks it distributes, it says it has no choice but to keep the price increases of the brands of beer it buys. “And I have to say: In the covid years, the breweries have cleaned up. They’ve collected and refunded unsold beer. It’s cost a lot of money.”

Rosendal also sees that the costs are indeed much higher than normal, even at his own brewery. “It’s Ukraine, it’s electricity, it’s wheat. It’s all difficult, the brewers say. And it’s true. When I see how much glasses for my beer cost now, it overwhelms you.”

The entrepreneur says it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to stay afloat. “You can’t really transfer everything to the customer. So the question is whether the customer stays or your tent stays empty. It’s a strange time. And I have my heart for the hospitality industry in the Netherlands.”