Just a little while and then carnival will start again. Time to hang out, lall and drink beer. But what is all that partying going to do to your wallet? How much will a beer cost this year? The prices are not tender. There are places where you will pay 3.50 euros this year. Five years ago, that was one euro less in many places.
A tour of nine places in Brabant yields the following picture:
- Den Bosch: between 3.00 and 3.50 euros.
- Eindhoven: around 3.50 euros.
- Helmond: the Helmmunt costs 3.20 euros.
- Boxmeer: 2.75 euros.
- Breda: the Leutpenning costs 3.30 euros.
- Bergen op Zoom: Leut Neut Bon costs 2.73 euros.
- Roosendaal: Tullepetaon Neutmunt costs 3.00 euros.
- Dongen: Pea mint costs 2.75 euros.
- Oosterhout: Kaaiendonk Step vouchers cost 3.00 euros.
How full the glasses are is not included in this list. That varies between 0.2 and 0.25 litres.
Bernard Kuenen of the Den Bosch department of Koninklijke Horeca is very happy to explain why prices have risen so much.
“Everything has become a lot more expensive for a pub,” he says. “The purchase of beer is 16 percent more expensive in total. Personnel costs have risen sharply. If you just see what I spend on DJs and security.”
Ruud Bakker of the Eindhoven department of Koninklijke Horeca Nederland wholeheartedly agrees. “A security guard now costs about forty euros an hour.”
Kuenen explains: “I have three security guards for my café. I think there is already 15 cents for security in a glass of beer.”
“3.50 euros for a beer is a price that is right.”
Other prices have also risen sharply. “Plastic cups have become more expensive. Electricity and gas also cost a lot more,” says Ruud Bakker.
“Electricity used to be 3,000 euros per month. That has now become about 8,000 euros,” Kuenen adds. “Moreover, I will pay 16 percent more rent than in 2021.”
“So I hope you understand that 3.50 euros for a beer is a price that is right,” says Bernard Kuenen. That’s 30 cents more than a year ago.
“An average carnival celebrator drinks about 50 beers in four days. I don’t think people are staying at home because they have now spent 15 euros more over the entire carnival than last year.”