C&C Gleeson welcomes MUP proposals

C & C Gleeson has welcomed the recent statement by Minister Leo Varadkar that the alcohol strategy has now reached Heads of Agreement and is moving into the Bill phase.

“It has taken a very long time to get agreement but we are delighted we are now moving forwards on an agenda that will help secure a long-term future for the Irish drinks industry,” said C&C Gleeson’s Managing Director Tom McCusker, “We take our responsibilities as a drinks producer very seriously and as such we welcome sensible moves to ensure that alcohol is enjoyed responsibly.

“We have long supported plans to introduce Minimum Unit Pricing,” he continued, “Additionally, plans to provide more information to consumers on packaging is a good step. We passionately believe that consumers should have good levels of information about products they choose. This is why we have put health information on all of our alcohol packaging for the last few years.

“We recognise that there’s an issue with the misuse of alcohol by a minority of consumers and that the Government has a role to play in tackling this. As such, we welcome sensible moves.

C&C Group was the first major drinks company to declare its support for minimum pricing when this initiative was launched by the Scottish government in 2011.”

The introduction of MUP would benefit supplier companies to the trade firstly by reducing the price differential between the on- and off-trade, tempting customers back into the pubs where suppliers enjoy higher margins. Secondly, it would also be inclined to boost sales of premium product through a similar reduction in price differentials in the off-trade between premium products and cheaper alternatives.