It is the kind of news that calls for a stiff drink: the cost of a home-poured G&T is bubbling up due to a jump in tonic prices at the supermarket.
Shop price data from the research firm Assosia suggests that the price of mixers made by major tonic brands such as Schweppes and Fever-Tree has risen sharply this month.
In Morrisons, the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain, a number of Schweppes mixers, including bestsellers such as Indian tonic water, have increased by 10p to £1.75 for a litre. The cost of some Schweppes drinks sold in Sainsbury’s and Tesco has also increased.
The data also reveals widespread price increases for Fever-Tree’s upmarket tonics. Since the start of 2022 Assosia has tracked 15 price increases for the brand in Morrisons, 16 in Tesco and Asda, and 21 in Sainsbury’s. A 500ml bottle of its Indian tonic water now costs £1.95 in Morrisons, a 15p increase. It costs the same higher price in Tesco and Sainsbury’s.
With inflation running at a near 30-year high, tonic is just one of many products going up in price on supermarket shelves as supply chain bottlenecks and soaring energy costs put upward pressure on prices.
This week, Lord Bilimoria, the founder of Cobra Beer, relayed bad news for beer drinkers, warning that soaring costs would push up the cost of a pint, too. “Our input costs in every way – bottling, energy – are up,” he said.
The cost pressures bearing down on businesses were also highlighted by Unilever, the consumer goods giant behind Hellman’s mayonnaise and Marmite, which said further price rises were on the cards for shoppers as its own input costs were expected to jump by as much as £3bn this year.
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As well as rising ingredient, transport and energy costs, soft drinks makers have also had to contend with the rising cost of carbon dioxide amid supply issues linked to soaring wholesale gas prices.
A spokesperson for the Schweppes owner Coca-Cola Europacific Partners said it had faced significantly increased costs in haulage, packaging, ingredients and utilities. With those pressures set to continue, it had “been necessary for us to increase some of the prices at which we supply our products to our customers”. In a recent trading update, Fever-Tree told investors that it too was facing significant cost headwinds
However, it isn’t all bad news for gin drinkers, according to the supermarket industry bible the Grocer: the pricier component of the drink – the gin – does not appear to have been subject to any major rises.
