Following the Welsh Government’s announcement that it is to introduce a ‘circuit breaker’ lockdown in Wales in an attempt to stem the rise in Covid-19 cases, James Calder, Chief Executive of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA), has voiced his concerns for the brewery industry.
“The mounting speculation over the last week that Wales was about to move into a circuit breaker lockdown has already caused pubs to put a halt on orders from small independent brewers for fear of having beer sitting unsold in their cellars, and the confirmation of a lockdown will now mean no orders on the horizon for small brewers across Wales who survive on sales via pubs,” explains Mr Calder. “When pubs are told to close the independent breweries that supply them are also effectively forced to mothball their operations, and despite 80% of small brewers’ beer being sold via pubs, they do not receive any support from Government when pubs are forced to close.
“Small breweries cannot just turn production on and off like a switch and this circuit breaker will mean that more small breweries will be deciding to throw in the towel rather than continue through an extremely uncertain time when they have not received the full financial support other sectors have been given.”