Everything is getting more expensive and you also need a big wallet for a night in the pub. Prices continue to rise and the time when you paid less than three euros for your beer is over. But not in Uden. Because the prices at the De Nachtegaal café will drop from 1 January. “We went to look across the border,” says owner Anke Wijdeven.
Uden’s café has been serving Heineken beer for thirty years, but that brewer has already raised its prices twice this year. When Heineken announced that it was planning another significant price increase after the end of the year, now in excess of ten percent, they saw no other way out than to switch to another brand.
In the end the choice fell on the German beer ‘Zachte Premium’. “Brewed in Allersheim,” says Anke, “it’s not the best-known brand, but it was the best beer in terms of value for money. And it has almost the same aftertaste as Heineken.”
Even if they have to pay 9% import duties on drinks from abroad, beer is still much cheaper. And as a result, De Nachtegaal’s customers will pay significantly less from next year. “A beer now costs 2.75 euros here, but it will soon be 2.25 euros,” says Anke. That’s a difference of fifty cents. “Compared to what it costs in other cafés in the new year, we are almost a euro of difference”.
“If we have to pass all this on to the customer, you pay 3.45 for a beer.”
“It’s not just the price of beer, but also energy prices and wage increases,” Anke explains. “If we have to transfer all this to the client, a simple night out becomes a luxury. Then you pay 3.45 for a beer.
Anke and her husband Johan went looking for another brand of beer, but in the Netherlands they went no further. That’s why they went looking in Belgium and Germany. “We first studied the types of beer and their prices at breweries. So we went looking for restaurants that had it on tap. And we did several tastings.
“The hospitality industry needs to stay accessible and I think we will.”
The café has no agreements with brewers, which makes it easy to switch to another brand. This does not apply to all cafes, as they often rent premises from a brewery. However, Anke hopes other restaurant entrepreneurs will follow. “I think it’s important that people can keep going out, because social contacts are very important. The hospitality sector must remain accessible and I think we will succeed.”
From December 31st at midnight the pub in Uden will serve the new cheaper beer. Whether customers will appreciate the difference remains to be seen. “We’ve told them before and they’re very curious about the quality,” says Anke. “Regarding the price reduction, they are certainly very enthusiastic.”
