Tesco Backs UK Government Action on Alcohol Selling

Britain's biggest retailer welcomed the commitment as part of its announcement of a wide-ranging package of measures to cut down on anti-social drinking and help consumers keep within healthy drinking limits.

25 May 2010 --- Tesco has become the first UK retailer to support the new coalition government's commitment to ban the sale of alcohol below cost.

Britain's biggest retailer welcomed the commitment as part of its announcement of a wide-ranging package of measures to cut down on anti-social drinking and help consumers keep within healthy drinking limits. Other measures include putting units on the front of bottles of alcohol for the first time, and a major new Community Alcohol Partnership in central London.

It added that should new Ministers decide to opt for a minimum unit price for all beers, wines, ciders and spirits, Tesco would also stand ready to support them on this.

Tesco acted after its latest customer research revealed that almost 70 per cent of consumers believe excessive drinking is one of the most serious issues facing the UK today.

Anti-social behaviour as a result of excessive drinking is the biggest concern for most consumers (61 per cent), while 36 per cent are concerned about the long-term health effects.

Tesco's decision to back a ban on below cost selling and support for a minimum price follows concerns from customers - more than half of those polled - that the availability of cheap alcohol contributed significantly to problem drinking in the UK.

Announcing the measures, Tesco Executive Director for Corporate and Legal Affairs, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, said: "Our research shows that excessive drinking is a major concern to consumers and we now know from our customers that they want us to help address the issue of low cost alcohol which they feel fuels the anti-social behaviour and disorder which affects so many communities.

"Pricing controls can only be effective if they apply to all alcohol retailers and the only way that can happen is through government taking the lead. Any attempt by retailers to form agreements on prices, even with the well intentioned aim of tackling such a serious social issue, could fall foul of competition laws and lead to retailers being fined and potentially prosecuted.

"There is no doubt that price is a factor in the availability of alcohol to a broader range of consumers but the level at which price encourages problem drinking is unproven. Therefore any pricing controls introduced must be carefully considered by government to ensure they are effective. Otherwise the vast majority of sensible consumers could be paying higher prices for no good reason.

"We acknowledge that our own sales of alcohol might be impacted but if these measures have the desired effect of helping to reduce harmful drinking, then it will be worth it.

"So I welcome the new Government's commitment to act on below cost selling and pledge that we will play a constructive role in government-led action to make this happen. We will also support any future discussions on a minimum price."

But working on price alone is unlikely to be sufficient to change the culture of drinking in the UK and so Tesco will also introduce other measures to help tackle alcohol-related health harms and disorder.

Individual consumers need to take responsibility for their actions, based on clear information. So Tesco will bring the units of alcohol information from the back label to the front of the pack on all own label products and will also work with branded suppliers to develop this as an industry wide standard. This will help consumers make responsible decisions.

For some time Tesco has had strict measures in place to prevent alcohol from being sold to underage customers. Our 'Think 25' policy means that our staff are trained to challenge anyone who looks 25 or under, not just 18. That means it is much harder for those under 18 to buy alcohol from Tesco. We will now offer that training to independent retailers to help them cut down on under age sales.

Lucy Neville-Rolfe continued: "We take our responsibilities as a licensed retailer and towards the communities we serve very seriously, which is why over the last few years we have introduced better labelling and advice for consumers, trained our staff to crack down on under age purchases through our 'Think 25' campaign and supported the authorities on education and enforcement, particularly through local Community Alcohol Partnerships.

"So whilst we stand ready to support government with action on alcohol pricing, it will be important to back these measures with better education, effective monitoring and enforcement of the law against those who abuse drink."

Tesco also announced that it will work with others to create a new Community Alcohol Partnership in central London, which will pilot a series of bold responsible drinking measures and be subject to an independent review to assess its effectiveness. That independent review will ensure that lessons from the exercise can inform actions in other parts of the UK. Leading drinks charity Alcohol Concern will form part of the steering group for the project and provide additional independent scrutiny of the proposed work.

Don Shenker, Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern said: "Alcohol Concern welcomes this announcement from Tesco and sees these measures as important first steps towards more responsible supermarket alcohol sales. Tesco's plans acknowledge that consumers themselves want supermarkets to tackle the cheap price of alcohol to reduce alcohol-related harm. We believe this will rightly deter excessive drinking, improve health and save costs. We urge the Government to ensure the 'below-cost' threshold reflects the evidence on the need to reduce alcohol's rising affordability".