chicot60
03-07-2011, 09:43 PM
CBJ – March 7 – In what may be viewed in some corners as a sign of the apocalypse, beer prices are set to rise with malting barley becoming more expensive as supplies dwindle.
Poor weather in Canada, the world's largest malting barley exporter, and in Australia have cut supplies of barley short until the fall, when a new harvest will be subject to a price hike of one third, according to Reuters.
The increase in price won't be immediate, according to the report. Many North American brewers have contracts with the Canadian Wheat Board that lock in barley prices for a while. Some beers will be priced up late this year, but most are likely to cost more starting in 2012.
But barley can be a brewer's second-biggest cost after labour, meaning that when the price spike comes, there won't be any looking back.
“Drink up now, is my advice,” Dwayne Dubois, Big Rock Brewery's chief financial officer, told Reuters.
http://www.canadianbusinessjournal.ca/business_news/canadian_business_news/07_03_beer_prices_set_to_rise_on_barley_costs_11.h tml
Poor weather in Canada, the world's largest malting barley exporter, and in Australia have cut supplies of barley short until the fall, when a new harvest will be subject to a price hike of one third, according to Reuters.
The increase in price won't be immediate, according to the report. Many North American brewers have contracts with the Canadian Wheat Board that lock in barley prices for a while. Some beers will be priced up late this year, but most are likely to cost more starting in 2012.
But barley can be a brewer's second-biggest cost after labour, meaning that when the price spike comes, there won't be any looking back.
“Drink up now, is my advice,” Dwayne Dubois, Big Rock Brewery's chief financial officer, told Reuters.
http://www.canadianbusinessjournal.ca/business_news/canadian_business_news/07_03_beer_prices_set_to_rise_on_barley_costs_11.h tml