How does Wetherspoons pricing policy work.
Me and the wife went in our local Spoons today and had a really nice drink of Grainstore GB at 4.3 % this cost £2.30 a pint,other guest beers including Burton Bridge Golden Delicious were the same price,when i was waiting to be served i noticed that Doom Bar at 4.0% was £2.60 a pint.
Why would anybody want to drink Doom Bar at 30p a pint more than some really nice local guest beers.
We are all equal,but some are more equal than others
Such s simple question! There is no simple answer to it and I've spent so long looking into this that I feel qualified to produce a thesis on it for the Open University!
I'll start with the Doom Bore point, Spoons do three national guests, Pride, Doom Bore and Adnam's Broadside. This is separate from two GK permanent beers and they try to ensure that at least one is available at all times. They take advantage of less knowledgeable beer drinkers by charging more for these (less so with the Adnam's) as they are recognisable "brands" and not "boring dross" (my opinion).
As for guest ales they have three bands loosely based on ABV, Standard , Premium and Super Premium. There is an Ultra Premium but it normally applies to strong ciders (7%+). The yardstick for pricing is the standard guest price. In London the cheapest I know of is £1.99 in Romford but more commonly it is £2.05 minimum. I would regard £2.30 as pricey in London Suburbs but you have to realise that for historical reasons Spoons are generally more concentrated in London than other parts of the UK. Central London Spoons charge silly money (over £3.00) for a standard guest and in my experience they don't look after the beer as well as they do in the suburbs. How is the guest price set? I believe that they will take the price down as low as they can while still covering their costs. When sales pick up they will ramp the price up.
Food prices do vary but it's not as significant as beer prices as most people will only have one meal at a time in a Spoons.
If you're going to eat in a Spoons the Club options are by far the best value as they include a pint of any guest ale so NEVER go for Ruddles Best!
Here are my top two tips for getting a good deal from a Spoons. If you like coffee you can turrn up at opening time (usually 08:00) and order a bog-standard filtered coffee that is typically £1.15 but my local E4 Spoons just charges £0.79.
They have a free refill policy up to 14:00 so in theory you can sit there for six hours drinking gallons of coffee for the price of a single cup.
My second tip is go on a Tuesday for the Steak Club and order the mixed grill with the most expensive guest. The typical price for a mixed grill is £9.70 but for the Steak Club it is more around the £7.00 mark. If the beer is around £2.50 then it means you've got a plate full of lovely chewy meat for under a fiver!
I have mentioned before Fullers beer costs more In Wetherspoon,s than the other guest because Fullers refused to sell beer to Wetherspoons at the price Wetherspoons dictate to their suppliers.
I would dispute that, people necessarily like it. Often they are given a limited choice due to the cosy ties between the large pubcos and whatever global abomination now backs Sharps brewery. It's the same with any of the large brands from that lot, people just get used to drinking rubbish like Heineken, Guinness or Strongbow so perceive that they "like" it because they never get to try anything better.
They probably think that CAMRA types are all like the Real Ale Twats in Viz in which there may be some truth but I've never mistakenly drunk paint.
It's mostly the marketing clout and the cosy ties that make it Britain's favourite. I expect Britain's biggest selling beer is John Smith's smooth crap.
A large number of Spoons punters drink Ruddles Best, probably attracted initially by the cheap price but then get used to drinking it and don't "like" other beers because they taste different.
Happily my local Spoons is a Doom Bore free zone.
The Organ Grinder pub is a Blue Monkey pub and I am sure most of us like their beer.They have 8 of their own beers and a guest.I know someone who complained about the guest which now seems to be permanent Doombar.The manager replied that its their second best selling beer.Its not for me but normals actually like it.