Tesco scraps beers and ciders in Brexit price row

Tesco has pulled more than half of Heineken’s beer and cider range after the brewer tried to increase prices on the products following the Brexit vote.

The supermarket has scrapped 31 of the company’s brands and is now stocking only 22 of the 53 it was selling at the start of the year.

Amstel, Sol, Tiger and Kingfisher names have all disappeared from its shelves, The Grocer reports.

The Dutch-based brewer in January announced plans to increase prices by an average of 6p per pint.

It reportedly blamed “prevailing economic conditions” following a 15 per cent fall in the value of sterling since the EU referendum.

UK-brewed beer is made predominantly using domestic-grown hops and barley.

But the British Beer and Pub Association said manufacturers have suffered from increased transport and energy costs.

This isn’t the first time Tesco has removed suppliers’ products after they tried to hike up prices.

The retailer removed Marmite, Pot Noodles, PG Tips tea and other Unilever brands from its website when the company threatened to raise prices by 10 per cent after the Brexit vote.

The row was resolved within a day and stocks were restored to the website.

A spokesman for Tesco the Times that the change was designed to better match its range of beers and ciders with the demand from customers.

Heineken said it did not comment on commercial arrangements with supermarkets.