It is with regret that the owner of the Helmond café Camiel Verschuren sees how more and more competitors are switching to another beer brand. Purchase prices continue to rise and this year has already had a price increase twice. But serving another brand of beer is not an option for him. “The brewery decides,” Camiel says with a sigh.
Camiel is one of many operators in Brabant who rents out his premises to the brewery and thus has his back against the wall. The building and tap belong to the AB-InBev brewery and Camiel is therefore obligated to service Jupiler. “AB-InBev has other brands, but the contract states that I can only buy Jupiler. And this is an ongoing contract, so I can’t ignore it.
“Then you think: leave us alone for a year.”
The entrepreneur took over Stadsherberghe De Kei in the summer of 2019. He had to close the doors soon after due to corona measures. Now he is having a difficult time again. “When you hear that a brewery like that is making billions worldwide and has also toured more during the pandemic, well. Leave us and the clients alone for a year, I think. Instead, we get two raises within a year. It seems very unfair.
According to him, operators who have their own premises would sometimes even receive steep discounts if they switched to a major beer brand. “They have a very strong negotiating position. They can sit around the table with different breweries and choose the most favorable price. And a brewery will often charge a lower standard price.”
“Soon guests will only come once a month, instead of every week.”
Camiel has already raised the price of beer in his pub by thirty cents this year. If Jupiler’s purchase price rises again, he has no choice but to accept. “But that’s going to cost me guests,” says Camiel. “Young people in particular find it difficult to do this and will therefore choose to come only once a month, rather than every week.”
He hopes breweries will wake up as more and more pubs are switching to in-house brands or ale from overseas. “If it spreads like an oil spill, it could become something. So I hope the breweries do something about it. Because I’m afraid of what will happen to the prize next year”.
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