CHANGES TO ALCOHOL CONTENT

During 2023, you may notice some small changes to alcohol content of some of our ciders, if you’re wondering what this is about, please read on… Did you know that the UK represents between 40-50% of total global cider consumption!? British people certainly like cider! Like most cider brands, the United Kingdom is the largest market for our Italian ciders. UK excise duty (alcohol tax) therefore has an important effect on the cost and therefore prices of our ciders in this market. The UK government has announced major increases and changes to the way alcohol excise duty is calculated, effective 1st August 2023. For full details, look up “new alcohol duty system” (spoiler alert – it’s very boring!) One of the main changes taking effect on 1st August is that cider excise duty will now be directly linked to alcohol content (the higher the alcohol, the higher the tax). In the past, cider excise duty was a standard rate within a range of alcohol contents. We have therefore carefully looked at all our ciders, and have made the changes below where we feel that alcohol content can be adjusted without affecting the taste of the cider whatsoever: –Angioletti Riserva Italian cider 500ml will move from 6.8% to 6% –Angioletti Secco Italian cider 500ml will move from 5% to 4.5% –Angioletti Mela Rossa Italian cider 330ml will move from 5% to 4.5% – we’ve also given label of this cider a bit of a ‘refresh’. In case anyone is concerned about profiteering (we’ve even recently heard of the new term “drinkflation”!), either by us or any of our retail or wholesale customers, please note that even with the above changes, the UK excise duty on some of our ciders is still increasing by over 40%! As excise duty is a government tax, just like VAT, all we can do is simply pass on any changes in tax (whether up or down) to our customers. There is no saving for us (or our customers) to absorb or to increase profit on. We can’t control the prices charged for our products by our customers (that’s illegal), but if you notice changes in UK retail or wholesale prices, it is likely to relate to the above major changes in excise duty. As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Cheers! David @ Angioletti Cider