Pubs chain Wetherspoons closes the taps on Heineken after Irish run-in
Wetherspoons has boycotted all Heineken drinks at its 926 pubs in the UK and Ireland after an extraordinary spat with the Dutch brewing giant.
The discount pubs chain made its announcement yesterday, with chairman Tim Martin accusing Heineken of ‘unacceptable’ behaviour.
The drastic move to stop selling Heineken products, including popular drinks such as Heineken, Foster’s and Strongbow, threatens to call last orders on a lucrative 35-year relationship between the two companies.
Boycotting Heineken drinks: Wetherspoons has been trading with Heineken for 35 years
The row began in Ireland where Heineken refused to supply Heineken lager, Ireland’s biggest draught beer, and Murphy’s stout to Wetherspoons’ new pub in Dun Laoghaire, a town south of Dublin.
Before agreeing to supply any more products to the pub, Heineken also demanded personal guarantees from Wetherspoons chief executive John Hutson that he would pay for supplies if the pub chain failed to stump up the cash.
Martin described Heineken’s behaviour as ‘unacceptable and hard to understand’.
He added: ‘We’ve been trading with Heineken for 35 years and they have never requested personal guarantees before.
‘It’s obstructive to do so now, especially when we made record profits of around £80million last year.’
The relationship between the two companies is worth around £60million a year.
Row: Heineken demanded personal guarantees from Wetherspoons chief executive John Hutson (left) that he would pay for supplies if the pub chain failed to stump up the cash
It is thought that Heineken was not prepared to drop its wholesale price to a level at which Wetherspoons could make an acceptable profit.
It has been selling Heineken and Murphy’s at under €3 a pint in its first pub in Ireland, The Three Tun Tavern in Blackrock, against an average price in Irish pubs of around €5.
Simon Matthews, an analyst at Goodbody, suggested Heineken may have been worried about tainting its brand by allowing its beer to be sold so cheaply.
He added: ‘Asking for personal guarantees from the CEO of a performing FTSE 250 company is highly unusual.’
This is not the first time Wetherspoons (down 11p to 788p) has fallen out with its suppliers in Ireland. It does not sell Guinness in its Irish pubs after clashing with drinks giant Diageo (down 25.5p at 1918p) over prices.
A Heineken spokesman described the row as ‘unfortunate’, adding: ‘We are seeking a resolution as soon as possible, and it is not our intention to comment in any further detail at this point.’
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