J D Wetherspoon has announced (9 December) that it is no longer trading with major supplier, Heineken, at any of its 926 pubs in the UK and Republic of Ireland.
Heineken refused to supply Heineken lager (Ireland’s biggest-selling draught beer) and Murphy’s stout to Wetherspoon’s new pub in Dun Laoghaire in the Republic of Ireland and also demanded personal guarantees from Wetherspoon chief executive, John Hutson, in order to supply any other products for the Dun Laoghaire pub.
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said: “We have 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 £80 million last year.
“The refusal to supply Heineken lager and Murphy’s just before the opening of our new pub in Dun Laoghaire, which represents an investment by us of nearly four million Euros, is unacceptable and hard to understand.”
Wetherspoon has been selling Heineken lager and Murphy’s at under three Euros a pint in its first pub in the Republic of Ireland, The Three Tun Tavern at Blackrock, against an average price in Irish pubs of around five Euros.