‘Very Sad to See’: Guinness Owner Calls Out Competitors for Lowering Alcohol Content in Their Beers Amid Draconian Tax Measures

Diageo, the parent company of Guinness, called out certain breweries that are lowering the ABVs of their beers due to “drinkflation.” (Photo: Newscast Limited via AP Images)

On Monday, The Telegraph reported that Diageo, the parent company of the wildly popular Irish stout, Guinness, blamed the heightened taxes enforced by the treasury in the United Kingdom, for forcing certain brewers to cut back on the ABV content of beers due to inflation. They did not think this was the best method of handling the currently fraught financial situation.

“Changing the alcohol content in beers because of a reaction to the tax, I don’t think it’s the right approach,” Diageo Great Britain Managing Director Nuno Teles said, according to The Telegraph. “I put myself on the side of the consumer — why should the consumer be now confronted with [this] because of taxation?”

Because the duty is calculated based on ABV percentage, some producers have chosen to brew beers with lower alcohol percentages to skirt around the tax.

“I think it’s very sad to see the Government taking advantage of duty the way they are,” Teles quipped.

Many businesses view this practice as unethical.

Tim Marton, an executive at JD Wetherspoon, a pub company, called the brewers’ new measures a “big mistake,” according to the Telegraph.

The Telegraph reported that some of the brands that have made this decision are Carlsberg, Old Speckled Hen and Leffe Blonde.

Per the Telegraph, Diageo reduced the ABV of its Tanquery gin from 43.1% to 41.3% in March. However, a spokesperson from Diageo told the Telegraph this move was made before the tax change was announced.

Many spirits brands have been on edge since November, when the Scotch Whisky Association, UK Spirits Alliance, English Whisky Guild and Wine and Spirits Trade Association sent an open letter to Jeremy Hunt, the British treasury Chancellor who appears to be spearheading these duty hikes on whisky.

On November 16, the U.K. Spirits Alliance warned that such draconian measures would push England’s drinking culture back to the grim era of the ’80s.

“I don’t think by increasing taxation, you’re going to boost the economy,” Teles concluded.

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