Recently, I received a letter from my brewery telling me that they had seen their kegs used as bbq's and as rafts in charity boat races. They cost a lot of money so implored their customers to ensure their safe return.
Regional brewers are coming round to the idea of charging licensees deposits on kegs, under a proposed scheme that could start in 2008.
That is according to the British Beer & Pub Association’s (BBPA) brewing director David Long, who heads the BBPA-backed working party looking at the idea.
Plans to charge licensees deposits of up to £50 per container were raised last year in response to a spate of thefts. The BBPA has sent out questionnaires to brewers asking their views on details of the scheme. Last week, the working party made a presentation about keg deposits to council members of the Society of Independent Brewers (SIBA).
Smaller brewers had expressed concern about the costs of implementing and operating a deposit system.
My view is that this is yet another burden on small businesses. The breweries have detailed statistics on each customer's purchases so they know who has had what number of kegs and returned how many.
It would not be rocket science to charge those that have failed to return them rather than Breweries take money from the rest of us and hold it in their bank accounts until such time as they see fit to return it.
John Hicks
