End of the booze cruise?

According to some pundits the cross channel booze cruise could be on its way out. Fewer and fewer Britons are now making the trip across to France to stock up on cheap alcohol, and many of the big warehouses set up in and around Calais to cater for the trade are feeling the pinch.

The rising value of the Euro against the Pound over the last year has been partly responsible for this, but in my mind there is no doubt that the sale of cut price alcohol in supermarkets here is also a major factor. Although the cost of buying a pint of beer in the pub has risen sharply in recent years - by around 14% in fact between 2001 and 2006 – the supermarket price of beer has fallen by nearly 10% over the same period. You can now buy a case of standard strength lager in the supermarket for the equivalent of less than 50p a bottle while a litre bottle of vodka will cost you the equivalent of 40-50p a shot. With prices this low it’s no wonder that people are no longer bothering to make the trip across the channel.

In effect supermarkets are now using alcohol as a loss leader in order to get people into their shops. This may represent good business practice for them, but I for one am worried about the impact it is having on alcohol consumption levels, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. The ability to get hold of large quantities of alcohol very cheaply from high street supermarkets at more or less any time of the day or evening means that it is now easier than ever for people to drink to excess.

The supermarkets themselves say they want to do their bit to promote responsible drinking; but they’ve done nothing so far to alter their pricing strategies. If they won’t act, and they seem to have no intention of doing so, then the Government is going to have to step in. Raising VAT on alcohol products, particularly those with the highest alcohol content, would be one way of tackling the issue. We should also consider creating separate till points in supermarkets for alcohol sales, just as we do with tobacco products. Not only would this reduce impulse alcohol purchases, but it would also help us to stamp out underage alcohol sales, which remains a real problem across the country.