The British pub chain, Wetherspoon, has anticipated Brexit and banned European wines and beers

Chaos reigns in Britain. Starting on March 1st the exit from the European Union will begin to take its first steps, and despite the fact that the Labor party is opening to a second advisory referendum, the road, however shaky, has been traced. The person who has the clearest ideas on the subject, though and abundantly way ahead of the times, is Tim Martin, founder of Wetherspoon, one of the largest chains of pubs, hotels and clubs in the United Kingdom, listed on the London Stock Exchange in the FTSE 250 Index, boasting more than 900 sales points in 2017, a turnover of 1.66 billion pounds, employing 37.000 people. He is a proud supporter of Brexit, and after the decision he made on July 9th 2018 to substitute Champagne with English bubbles in all his premises, he has now announced that he wants to replace the entire selection of beer and wine from European countries with English, American, Australian and Chilean products. There is, however, one exception, Stella Artois, the Belgian beer that is loved too much to merit being replaced. The wines from Italy (above all Prosecco), France and Germany, but also beer brands like Tuborg (Denmark), Erdinger (Germany) and Staropranem (Czech Republic) are all falling under Wetherspoon’s ax.
“Since everyone is involved in the Brexit debate, we hope that both the Government and consumers will support local brewers, producers and pubs during this period of uncertainty”, Tim Martin told The Drinks Business. He then added that “many of the taxes on pubs and breweries are set at European levels, so we now hope that the Government will consider the exit from the European Union as an opportunity to review this system. We would especially like a lower rate on draft beer rather than bottled or canned, which would help keep prices low by attracting people to pub crawls. We would also like consumers to rediscover the pleasure of beer and cider”, concluded the founder of Wetherspoon, “which are typically British products. Choosing British beers, marked by the hops logo on the pint, indicating the domestic origin of the hops, they will actively support local productions and producers”.