Campaigners want to see the loophole closed, sending the price of some ciders soaring
UK supermarkets are selling ‘deadly’ super-strong cider at low prices because of a tax loophole designed to encourage apple-growing, according to campaigners. The rules mean cider that is between 3.5% and 8.5% ABV is taxed at £9.67 per litre of alcohol, while beer is taxed at £21.01 per litre of alcohol.
Campaigners say this means the price of cider has not risen while the prices of other alcoholic drinks have – with some supermarkets now selling cider for the same price as apple juice.
According to research by Alcohol Change UK, some strong cider in supermarkets is now 2.4% cheaper than it was in 2020, while some has increased by 5.3%, while inflation has seen everything else go up by, on average, 26%.
Ash Singleton, Alcohol Change UK’s director of research and public affairs, told The Guardian : “Big producers knock up a deadly product with just enough concentrated apple to legally call it cider – and pocket the tax breaks. Supermarkets drive the demand, stocking it high to flog at pocket-money prices.
“From unsafe streets to NHS pressure and early deaths, working-class neighbourhoods bear the brunt of this irresponsible profit racket left by the last government.”
He has called on the Government to scrap the strong cider tax breaks.
The charity has written to the public health minister, saying: “It is unacceptable that the alcohol industry continues to push the cost of harm on to communities and stretched NHS and police services, while cashing on tax breaks to do so.”
A British Retail Consortium spokesperson said: “Supermarkets have led the way in helping their customers drink responsibly, adopting the health department’s labelling to give customers clear information about the alcohol they sell and how that relates to recommended guidelines. Working with other partners, such as the Drinkaware Trust, this has helped deliver a fall in excessive drinking.
“Increasing duties on cider would penalise the vast majority of consumers who already drink less than the government’s recommended limits [of 14 units a week].”
Supermarkets told The Guardian they ‘adhere to all UK pricing regulations on cider.’