Asda has become the first UK supermarket chain to bring an end to cheap booze deals in its stores in a bid to tackle the escalating problem of binge drinking.
Bosses at Britain’s second largest grocery retailer have introduced a minimum price policy in its stores, whereby alcohol cannot be sold below the cost of duty on the product plus VAT.
The new ‘floor price’ applies to over 99 per cent of the alcohol Asda sells, and means a one-litre bottle of Smirnoff vodka cannot be sold for less than £10.49, while a 20-pack of Carling lagers will not be priced below £7.17
Store managers, however, still have the right to set alcohol prices for damaged or end-of-range products.
In a letter to Home Secretary Theresa May, Asda Chief Executive Andy Clarke said: “It will be Asda’s policy in all our stores not to sell alcohol to the public below the cost of duty plus VAT.”
“I see this as a small but important first step in the process towards creating a new way of selling alcohol in the UK.”
Asda’s decision comes two months after Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy backed calls for the introduction of minimum pricing on all alcoholic drinks .
