Wetherspoons in legal row with major beer supplier – is your favourite affected?
A LEGAL row has broken out between Wetherspoons and a major beer supplier.
The pub chain appointed AB InBev (ABI), the world’s biggest brewer, to become its largest supplier in 2021.
But now Wetherspoons and the brewer are involved in a high court dispute which could affect the supply of well-known brands such as Stella Artois.
ABI, and its UK subsidiary Budweiser Brewing Group, also make Budweiser, Corona, Leffe Blonde and Bud Light.
The dispute is over which company is responsible for meeting a contractual requirement to display a set number of ABI beer’s on T-bars at pubs.
Wetherspoons claims that both parties believed it was ABI that was responsible for this, according to The Times.
Court documents also revealed that ABI wanted to increase the cost of a pint of Stella from £3.60 to keep up with soaring inflation, reports say.
A Wetherspoon spokesperson confirmed that it had “no choice” but to commence court proceedings.”
They added: “We value our commercial relationship with Budweiser and hope that the dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible.
“We do not consider it would be appropriate to share further details at this time due to the ongoing nature of the legal dispute”
The Sun has also approached the Budweiser Brewing Group for comment.
It is not yet known what the outcome of the legal case could be and it can often take years for a ruling to be made.
Wetherspoons signed a 20-year deal with Budweiser Brewing Group two years ago.
It bought Wetherspoons’ partnership with Heineken to an end after 41 years.
It comes just days after Wetherspoon announced it has seen sales jump ahead of the pre-pandemic levels.
The hospitality giant, which runs 843 pubs in the UK and Ireland, reported a 5% increase in sales over the six months to January 29.
This is compared with the same period in 2019, and up by 13% compared with the previous year.
But Wetherspoons is still set to close a number of sites, with dozens up for sale.
You can see our full list of sites up for sale here.
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