TRADITIONAL country pubs are facing an uncertain future as supermarket giants eat further into the retail alcohol market.
There are forecasts many hotels without supplementary income from gaming machines could be forced to close within a decade.
Pub operators are witnessing falling sales in the face of heavy discounting, particularly by Coles and Woolworths, their specialty outlets and other discount chains which offer products cheaper than hotels can buy from suppliers. It is fuelling a trend to more off-premises consumption of packaged alcohol and less of the traditional pub bar-style drinking.
Even some country pub owners are buying supplies from the discounters.
A federal government push for a minimum floor price offers hope of a more level playing field, but the proposal is yet to get the nod from the National Preventative Health Agency.Warrnambool-based drug and alcohol agency WRAD predicts price control would go some way to easing the trend for drinkers to consume large amounts of cheap alcohol before attending licensed venues.
“There is no doubt the cheaper the prices the easier it is for people to get grog and that increases the health risk,” WRAD director Geoff Soma said.
“If the government looks at the taxing system and then puts that extra revenue back into the health treatment system it would be good.”
Warrnambool publican, John Hodge, of Rafferty’s Tavern, has called for stricter control by government and councils on issuing of retail alcohol licences.
“If the government can put a cap on the number of pokies why can’t they do the same with alcohol,” he said. “Hotels and other licensed premises get hounded on responsible serving of alcohol and get blamed for anti-social behaviour linked to alcohol, but supermarkets get off scott-free.”
Camperdown publican Denis Madden, of the Commercial Hotel, agreed. He has seen the pub sector share of alcohol sales fall from 80 per cent to less than 40 per cent in a few decades.
However, Woolworths dismissed the hoteliers’ claims.
“Woolworths makes no apology for delivering good value and we have an industry-leading approach to responsible selling,” company community relations manager Simon Berger said.
“Claims by competitors that alcohol sold by them is OK, but alcohol sold by us isn’t, should be taken with a grain of salt.
“With alcohol already subject to significant excise, regulating prices or restricting competition would only penalise the majority of Australians who responsibly enjoy alcohol as part of their social lives.”
Australian Hotels Association Victorian chief executive Brian Kearney said erosion of the market by supermarkets was an international trend.
“The packed liquor market for pubs is getting ripped out from under them,” he said. Warrnambool has discount liquor outlets in three Coles supermarkets and the Coles-owned K. M. Lynch cellars, two Woolworths supermarkets and a Dan Murphy’s with a third Woolies on the way, an IGA liquor department, an Aldi liquor section with another on the way and an independent Pre-Mix King chain outlet plus five hotel drive-through bottle shops and four other pubs with packed liquor departments.
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