It is with regret that café owner Camiel Verschuren from Helmond sees how more and more of his competitors are switching to another beer brand. Purchase prices continue to rise and he has already had a price increase twice this year. But serving another brand of beer is not an option for him. “The brewery decides,” says Camiel with a sigh.
Camiel is one of the many operators in Brabant who rents his premises at the brewery and therefore has his back against the wall. The building and the tap belong to the AB-InBev brewery and Camiel is therefore obliged to serve Jupiler. “AB-InBev does have other brands, but the contract states that I can only purchase Jupiler. And that is an ongoing contract, so I cannot ignore it.”
“Then you think: leave us alone for a year.”
The entrepreneur took over Stadsherberghe De Kei in the summer of 2019. He had to close the doors soon afterwards due to the corona measures. Now he’s having a hard time again. “When you hear that such a brewery is making billions in profit worldwide and has also turned more during the pandemic, well. Leave us and the customers alone for a year, I think. Instead, we get two increases in a year’s time. That feels very unfair.”
According to him, operators who do have their own premises would sometimes even receive high discounts if they switch to a major beer brand. “They have a very strong negotiating position. They can sit around the table with different breweries and choose the most favorable price. And a brewery will then often charge a lower standard price.”
“Guests will soon only come once a month, instead of every week.”
Camiel has already increased the price of beer in his pub by thirty cents this year. If Jupiler’s purchase price rises again, he has no choice but to go along. “But that will cost me guests,” says Camiel. “The young people in particular have a hard time with that and will then choose to come only once a month, instead of every week.”
He hopes that the breweries will open their eyes now that more and more pubs are switching to house brands or beer from abroad. “If it spreads like an oil slick, it could become something. So I hope the breweries do something with it. Because I am afraid of what will happen to the prize next year.”
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