Wetherspoons will stop selling French Champagne and German beer as pub chain announces it will sell more UK-made drinks in the run up to Brexit
- Champagne and wheat beers produced in France and Germany will be replaced
- Sparkling wines from the UK and Australia will be substituted for Champagne
- More UK wheat beers to be sold in switch to affect all its 880 pubs from July 9
Pub chain Wetherspoon is to sell more drinks from the UK and non-EU brewers in the run up to Brexit.
Champagne and wheat beers produced in France and Germany will be replaced, and sparkling wines from the UK and Australia will be substituted for Champagne.
More UK wheat beers will be sold in a switch which will affect all 880 Wetherspoon pubs from July 9.
Pub firm JD Wetherspoon is to offer more drinks from UK and non-EU producers and brewers
Pub chain Wetherspoon (file picture) is to sell more drinks from the UK and non-EU brewers
'This move helps us to broaden our horizons so that we create an improved offer for the two million customers who visit our pubs each week.
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Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin, a strong supporter of Brexit, said: 'This move helps us to broaden our horizons so that we create an improved offer for the two million customers who visit our pubs each week.
'It is the start of a review all products in the next six to 24 months, with the object of making our business more competitive. The EU's customs union is a protectionist system which is widely misunderstood.
'It imposes tariffs on the 93 per cent of the world that is not in the EU, keeping prices high for UK consumers.
'Tariffs are imposed on wine from Australia, New Zealand and the US, and also on coffee, oranges, rice and more than 12,000 other products.
'There will be an inevitable transfer of trade post-Brexit to countries outside the EU, which will reduce prices in shops and pubs.
'The products we are now introducing are at lower prices than the EU products they are replacing.
'We intend to honour existing contracts with EU suppliers, some of which have several years to run. However, we are starting to make the transition to non-EU trade now.'
More UK wheat beers will be sold in a switch affecting all 880 Wetherspoon pubs from July 9
Sparkling wines from the UK will include Denbies Sparkling Whitedowns Brut and Whitedowns Rose Brut, as well as Hardys Sparkling Pinot Chardonnay from Australia.
The pubs will also serve wheat beers from the UK - Blue Moon Belgian White, Thornbridge Versa Weisse Beer and SA Brains Atlantic White.
Wetherspoon's will continue to serve Kopparberg cider from Sweden. Kopparberg has confirmed that it will be producing its cider in the UK post-Brexit.
Alcohol-free Adnams Ghost Ship will replace Erdinger alcohol-free beer from Germany.
How the Wetherspoon chairman is one of Brexit's most vocal backers
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin is a strong supporter of Brexit
Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin played a leading role in campaigning for Britain to leave the EU.
In 2018 the vocal chairman told Theresa May to be bolder in her Brexit demands, telling the then-Prime Minister she needed 'alternatives' and must be willing to walk away from the EU without a deal.
Outlining his four-point plan for a successful break with Brussels, Mr Martin said in May that year: 'To get a good deal, you need options. If there's only one pub or supermarket in town, you'll pay over the odds.
'For the UK to get a good deal from the EU, there must be an alternative to show we are serious. A "no-deal" alternative would leave the UK much better off than it is today.'
Mr Martin urged Mrs May to leave the single market and customs union and abolish import taxes on non-EU products, which would 'immediately reduce prices in pubs and shops across the country'.
He added the government should also cancel the £39billion Brexit bill, which he dubbed a 'leaving gift', and invest the money on local projects. He said each of the 650 parliamentary constituencies would receive around £60million.
The other two points involved in Mr Martin's plans involved taking back control of Britain's territorial fishing waters and granting UK citizenship to EU migrants who had moved to Britain legally.
Mr Martin had urged Theresa May to leave the single market and customs union and abolish import taxes on non-EU products
In June 2018 Mr Martin said he would replace champagne and prosecco with non-European sparkling wines, claiming it was part of a transition from EU products.
The chain said it would aim to replace the fizzy drinks with British or 'new world' alternatives - and wheat beer and alcohol-free beers from the UK would take the place of German options.
In August 2019 Mr Martin vowed to slash beer prices to an 'unbelievable low' if Britain left the EU by October 31, saying he could 'guarantee' a drop in prices because he would be able to get 'supplies cheaper' after the country was released from EU tariffs.
He has also called for an abolition of import taxes on non-EU products, which he claims would 'immediately reduce prices in pubs and shops across the country'.
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