The cheapest pint in Tipp?

Rearcross pub fights back against price hike

Diageo is putting up the price of a pint of Guinness again, but a North Tipp pub is going against the grain and keeping its charge to just €5.

In fact, pints of every kind of beer at Kennedys of Rea, Rearcross, are just €4 for the month of January. Normal service will resume next month, when most pubs will start charging an extra 20 cent for a pint of Guinness to cover the latest increase announced by owner Diageo, effective from February 2.

But not at Kennedys, where the price of a pint of Guinness has been kept at €5 since Gráinne Harte and her husband James Maher bought the pub 18 months ago. They run a shop and food takeaway as well, their business occupying a central part of the community, a place where people can meet for a drink and buy food and groceries, as was traditionally the case.

“For me, when we bought the pub it was never about just selling the drink,” Gráinne said. “It was about trying from a rural perspective to have a community hub where everybody can make enough to have a roof over their head, but where we say ‘Stop’ to this madness of these prices.”

‘LUXURY ITEM’

“The problem with what Diageo is doing – and I’m sure Heineken will follow suit – is that they are now making having a drink, which is our tradition, our culture in Ireland – that’s how we socialised – is that a pint of Guinness is now becoming a luxury item… Because of these hikes, pubs are now becoming these exclusive spaces to buy luxury products. And that’s not what a rural pub is about.”

She said the rising cost of alcohol in pubs is driving people away from the traditional social hub and “alienating” young people in particular, Gráinne talking about the problem of youngsters binge-drinking cheap alcohol at home before they go to the pub, where they can afford to buy maybe only one drink.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

When she and her husband bought the pub, the charge for a pint of Guinness was €5.20. The new owners brought it back to €5. A few weeks later, The Irish Times published the results of a survey on stout prices in Ireland. It found that the average price for a pint in Tipperary was €5.68.

Kennedys of Rea may lay claim to having the cheapest pint in the county – if not the country – but Gráinne is quick to point out that this means them swallowing the hit themselves, rather than passing it on to their customers.

“This is not about one publican trying to be better than the other publican; this is about our model,” she explained.

“We’re keeping it the same not because we have money falling out of the sky. The way I look at it is if you can give value to your customer, you will create more footfall, you will create a higher sense of customer satisfaction if people feel they’re not being robbed.”

She believed people would be inclined to visit their local pub in greater number if the prices were more favourable. They would stay longer, purchase the likes of crisps or nuts and, in the Kennedys of Rea case, maybe buy something in the shop.

The publican still makes a small profit. Moreover, if people are happy with their experience, they will consider the pub as a venue for occasions such as birthday celebrations, baby showers, and christenings.

“To keep a rural pub alive, you have to become an integral part of the community,” Gráinne reasoned. “I look at it in the broader context. If you look at that pint of Guinness on its own to keep your business going, that’s not viable. You have to look at other opportunities, so look at it holistically.”

MAKING A STAND

Kennedys of Rea bucked the trend all the more this month by announcing a €4 charge for all pints of beer. Yes, it’s about banishing the January blues, but there’s a lot more to it than that, as Gráinne explained.

“This is not about trying to get people out drinking, spending their mortgage money. I genuinely mean that. This about January as a hard month for people and there’s a lot of people who depend on company and social contact, who may not be getting paid until the end of January.”

She continued: “I think we have to take a stand at some stage… at the moment, publicans are at the mercy of the brewers. Unless we change our strategy, we will continue to be at their mercy and there is currently no full stop there. And the loser here at the end of the day will not just be publicans; it’s society,” Gráinne said.

“With the volatility in the world, to live in a rural community now is a gift. It’s a gift to be safe. You know the people in your village and know that your children are safe in the school.

“If we don’t fight for that now, we will be all the worse for it. As my mother would say: ‘We’ll cry salty tears for it yet’.”