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Bruce and all. Here the article about ripping
off with cider comes in non-Word format. I am also sending it as an rtf
format attachment from Word. And no virus! Promise!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bruce Raup" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, May 07, 2001 6:45 PM
Subject: [USMA:12684] Re: Sunday world, 2000-07-17,
rip-off and downsizing of cider Han,
Thanks for your interesting postings; I enjoy your point of view. However, even though many people use it, MS Word is not a standard. Could you send the Cider story in non-proprietary format, such as plain text? Or, if fancy formatting is required, HTML would work. Thanks, Bruce On 2001-05-05 18:56 +0200, Han Maenen wrote in USMA:12654: Here is another vieuw than BWMA's one on rip-offs and downsizing involving systems of units. Although in this case the metric product - a 330 ml long neck bottle of cider- WAS a rip-off as it had the worst value, this Irish tabloid did *not* blame metric for it. I reported about this last summer, but here is the entire article from the Sunday world, 2000-07-16. Han Sunday world, 2000-07-17
Pub spy. Our crack pint commando drinks with the best and slates the rest IT’S THE ‘GREAT CIDER RIP OFF’ Brewery chiefs and crazy taxes blamed On average a pint of cider costs THREE TIMES more in a boozer than in an off-licence Pub bosses have been accused of running a cider cartel after a survey found a pint of alcoholic apples ist on average three times more in a boozer than it does in an off-licence. A pint of Bulmers will set you back an average of just �1 at the offy, but in a Dublin boozer you’ll fork out around �3 for the same drink. Furious cider shoppers throughout Ireland bombarded our special Pub Spy drinks hotline ro vent their fury at what many termed ‘THE GREAT CIDER RIP-OFF’. "I was in England last week and I bought a pint of Scrumpy in a pub just outside Bristol for �1.35", Dublin cider drinker Darren Murphy said. "�3 for the same pint in Ireland!… It is a bloody rip-off. Pubs here charge just what they want,"he added. Boozers But publicans blamed brewery chiefs and crazy taxes for the high prices. They argue that the lack of competition in the drinks industry means brewers can charge what they want for their products. A special Sunday World investigation revealed that the price of a pint of cider varies by as much as 80p in Dublin alone. And we discovered that rural cider prices are on average 40p a pint cheaper than in the capital. Long Neck bottles of Bulmers, like lager long necks – are the biggest rip off. We found that in 80% of boozers that bother to stock them, a 330 ml long neck bottle was MORE EXPENSIVE than a draught pint of the very same alco apples. The same long-neck bottle that retails at near �3 a throw can be bought for just �1.35 in the off-licence. Even when government taxes are taken into consideration, the mark-up is still phenomenal. Our survery found the dearest draught pint is on sale for a whopping �3.50 in The Morgue, Templeogue. Next dearest was the pint of Bulmers in trendy pub Caf� on Seine. That’s if you order your sup before 11.00 at night. If it’s after that expect to be charged �3 for the privilege. When asked why the price was put up after 11.00 pm, a barman said: "The price goes up to pay the wages". At the Bleeding Horse, a short bus ride from Caf� on Seine, a reporter was charged �2.75 for a pint of Bulmers. After three pints he was shocked to discover the price had gone up- by a staggering 25p a pint. "The price is �3 a pint after 11.30", he was told by a barman after almost choking on his Bulmers. Gives a whole new meaning to the Bulmers catch phrase ‘Nothing added but Time’. The cheapest pint of Bulmers in the capital can be found in the Harold House on Clanbrassil Street. It costs justs �2.40 a throw. The next cheapest we found was in O’Dwyers of Dunboyne. There a pint of Bulmers costs �2.45. In nearby Maynooth a pint of cider in Caulfields will set you back a fairly reasonable �2.50. Outside Bulmers have spent a fortune advertising the pint bottle of cider. The ad shows a contented punter topping up his ice-filled pint glass with golden Bulmers time after time. But cider drinkers, who phoned the Sunday World, are sick to the teeth with being charged in average 40p more for the privilege of drinking from a pint bottle. John Scullion from Athlone said:"I am sick of paying over the odds for cider. I can get it for next to nothing in the off-licence. Yet if I decide to drink in a pub I am fleeced". Scruffy Murphys on Mount Street was also very expensive for a pint bottle of cider. It came in at �3, 20p more than it costs for a cider on draught there. Just ten minuts from Scruffy’s the Harold House was serving pint bottles for a reasonable �2.55 a throw – 45p cheaper. At the popular Tara Tavern in Finglas a pint of Bulmers retailed at �2.60 in the lounge. The pint bottle cost �2.95. Outside Dublin, the price of cider dropped considerably. The cheapest pint of cider we found was at the Clubhouse in Dromahair, Co. Leitrim. Tenner Owner Gerry Kelly serves up pint cans of Bulmers for just �2 a throw. Five pints for a tenner.. not bad. One of the cheapest draught pints of cider we found outside the capital was at Baretts’s Bar in Ballinhassig, co. Cork. There a pint costs �2.35, with a pint bottle selling for just �2.60. Very few boozers outside Dublin stock long neck bottles of cider. Publican after publican said that punters were not stupid. If they wanted a drink it didn’t matter what shape, colour or size of bottle, glass or cup it came in. In Dublin long necks are, in the majority of cases, more expensive than draught pints. In Polly Hops in Lucan on Camden Street a long neck before 11.30pm cost �2.90 – 15p DEARER than a draught pint of cider. After 11.30pm a long neck costs an amazing �3.10. Amazing when you consider that we bought a 330 ml long neck of Bulmers in an off-licence around the corner for just �1.30. We asked Bulmers to comment on the price of cider in pubs throughout Ireland. We also asked them to comment on whether they thought the lack of competition in the cider market was driving the prices sky-high. They never got back to us.
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Sunday world.rtf