Britain could see a shortage of bottled beers in the coming weeks, as a result of the rising costs of producing glass, drinks suppliers have said. Food and drink wholesaler Dunns Food & Drinks says the price of glass bottles has increased by as much as 80% in recent weeks, so the global supply of bottles is set to fall.
As reported by shopping and consumer goods magazine The Grocer, some breweries are set to switch their bottled drinks to cans to help combat increasing costs, but others will continue bottling their drinks - though they'll inevitably have to put their prices up to make up for the shortfall. Operations director at Dunns Food & Drinks, Julie Dunn explained: "Our wine and spirits suppliers from around the globe are facing ongoing struggles that will have a knock-on effect. As a result, there could be less variety in the bottled beers we see on UK shelves. Some breweries will convert to cans to ensure consistent supply, whereas others will look at this as devaluing the brand so will inevitably pass the additional cost onto beer drinkers."
Co-founder of Vault City Brewery, Steven Smith-Hay has outlined the company's ongoing plans to change from glass bottles to cans, to help keep the costs down. "We started introducing cans to our release schedule in January because of rising costs and challenges with availability," he told The Grocer. "This was initially just for our session sours and supermarket range, but because production prices are so high, we've decided to make all our beers can-only from June, with the exception of a few special releases each year.
