The levy on soft drinks comes into effect from 6 April 2018 on all soft drinks that contain over 5g of added sugar per 100ml.
From this date, manufacturers will either choose to absorb the cost of the levy themselves or pass it on to their customers. It is expected that manufacturers will not be able to pay the levy themselves without increasing the price of the drinks, and as such price increases are expected.
It’s unsustainable for our business to absorb price increases of this nature, so regrettably for any impacted products, we will have to pass this on to our customers.
The detail of what the new pricing will be has yet to be confirmed by our suppliers, so we are unable to confirm what any price increases may look like at this stage.
As part of the levy coming in and the growing move to healthier options, our supply partners have been working over the last year to bring in innovative new products that contain either low or no sugar so that they are available for customers, and they can have confidence that these alternatives will still meet consumer needs.
We have nutritional information available on all of our drinks, so customers can make the right choice.
We will share further information on the levy with customers as and when it becomes
available.
More information about the levy:
- The purpose of the levy is to incentivize manufacturers to reformulate their products, reduce the portion size or promote their lower sugar alternative ranges with the aim that consumers will have less sugar in their diet.
- The levy will apply to the producers and importers of these types of drinks. It will have a lower rate which will apply to added sugar drinks with a total sugar content of 5 grams or more per 100 millilitres, and a higher rate for drinks with 8 grams or more per 100 millilitres. It will not apply to any drink where no sugar is added.
- Alcoholic drinks with an alcohol by volume of up to 1.2% are included in the levy. The government will make provision to exempt certain drinks that fall within this category from the levy.
- For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/soft-drinks-industry-levy/soft-drinks-industry-levy
