But some brands remain unchanged, says manufacturer

Red Stripe will next week incease prices on some of its spirits brands, following tax increases on alcohol products earlier this month.

Government last month announced an increase of $960 per litre of pure alcohol in the Special Consumption Tax (SCT) on beverages such as vodka, beers, stouts, wine, tonic wines, liqueurs, whisky, gin, brandy, and over proof rum (except white over proof). Against that background, Red Stripe announced yesterday that it will be forced to increase prices on some of its brands, effective Monday.

“We decided that for the month of December we would absorb the impact of the new taxes however, we must now adjust our prices. We regret having to take this decision considering the hardships that our valued customers and consumers are facing during this global recession,” said Red Stripe in a press release.

“These amendments significantly impact our brands and also do not allow us to absorb increases in costs over the last 18 months on some of our spirits portfolio,” explained the firm, which noted that the adjustments were still not yet finalised.

The traditional beer manufacturer said the price adjustments will impact the Smirnoff Vodka, Baileys’ 750 ML, Trelawney Gold Label Rum and Johnnie Walker Black brands.

However, the company added that it “worked to ensure” that some of its brands’ prices will remained unchanged, namely Ciroc Vodka, Zacapa Rum, Tanqueray Gin Smirnoff Black, Don Julio Tequilas and all its Wines. The firm also noted that the prices of beer brands Red Stripe and Heineken remain the same while Red Stripe Bolds will be slashed by $5.67 per bottle.

Red Stripe is owned by multinational alcoholic beverage company Diageo. The company earlier this month announced that it was aggresively looking towards increasing its presence in the local spirits market and appointed Safia Cooper to take charge of its Scotch, Reserve and Liqueur portfolio in Jamaica.