In a bid to give partners greater flexibility to set their pricing strategy relative to their local marketplace, Punch Taverns has announced plans to restrict net drinks price increases to 1%*.
This follows Punch’s earlier decision to delay passing on a number of cost increases to its partners including Heineken and InBev which went up on 1st February 2010, CUK which increased on 15th February and Coors on 1st March 2010.
The company will also hold increases on Coors products, including Carling, where the brand owner has increased wholesale prices by 4.81%; Punch will only move prices by an average of 2%.
Commenting on the decision, Roger Whiteside, managing director of Punch Partnerships explains: “We recognise that it’s still challenging out there and we wanted to use our pricing strategy to give our partners a positive advantage in their local market. The fact that we have decided to hold these cost increases demonstrates our commitment to continually evolve our business model in support of our partners.”
At the same time, Punch will further improve the transparency of its pricing by aligning its wholesale prices with suppliers’ wholesale prices. This will make it easier for partners to see the discount they are receiving relative to market wholesale prices.
* On average
Punch will be writing to its partners over the coming weeks to confirm the new prices and wholesale discounts. Prices for wines, spirits, soft drinks and RTDs are currently being negotiated and will be communicated in April.
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