Spirits in the sky: JD Wetherspoon axes Jägermeister and French brandy in post-Brexit plan
JD Wetherspoon is ditching European spirits such as Jägermeister for non-EU equivalents in a bid to lower prices across its 880 UK pubs.
Replacing the ousted continental brands, which also include French brandies Courvoisier VS and Hennessy Fine de Cognac, will be US drink E&J Brandy, Australia’s Black Bottle and Strika, a herbal liqueur produced in England.
The news comes several months after Wetherspoons announced it was replacing Champagne with sparkling wines from the UK and Australia, as well as German wheat beers with those from the UK.
Read more: Greene King gets a World Cup boost as it presses ahead with pub sales
The pub giant announced that the decision to bring in non-EU produce would lead to cheaper prices for consumers.
Brexit-supporting Tim Martin, who has long argued the case for trade deals outside the EU, told City PM: “There will definitely be more steps in this direction..Once we leave the EU, our assumption is that the tariff barriers will fall, and it will open up the possibility of buying from the 93 per cent of the world outside of the EU.”
Martin added that he thought May was a “hopeless” negotiatior. Opting for the former foreign secretary instead, he said: “Providing he [Boris Johnson] stops putting it about so much, he’s got my vote.”