- Tens of thousands of pubs and restaurants across England are
rushing to sell food and drink before Thursday’s National
Lockdown renders them fit only for the bin.
“Many pubs, restaurants, cafes and food outlets are not allowed
to trade during lockdown, and they have lots of food and drink in
stock that may well end up in landfill if they aren’t sold before
Thursday”, explains Charlotte Green from waste company TradeWaste.co.uk
Some of the larger chain pubs have been selling pints of beer for
99p in an effort to clear out stocks and avoid huge waste.
Wetherspoons had commented on Monday, “any ales not sold between
now and lockdown will have to be thrown away, so it’s better that
customers can enjoy it at a great price while the pubs remain
open”.
Mitchells & Butlers, one of the largest operators reported
that the first lockdown cost it £11m in waste caused by extra
beer in pubs ready for St Patrick’s day which of course did not
happen.
“The amount of potential waste caused by a sudden lockdown is
staggering – however it is thought that because of the length of
notice, and the time of year, the wastage of the second lockdown
will be in the region of 7.5m pints, which is way lower then 70m
pints wasted in the first lockdown”, Green adds.
The big problem facing pubs and restaurants now is that a third
of their revenue is generated during the Halloween to New Year
rush, a massively important time for cashflow before heading into
the dead seasons of January and February.
The potential for huge food and drink waste is set to be even
worse than it might have been due to the Governments rules on not
allowing pubs to sell takeaway drinks.
“Everything needs to go before Thursday – so get down the pub and
buy a pint, or order some food from a local restaurant,
everything you buy this week helps them, and helps save it going
down the drain or to landfill”,
