BEER CONSUMPTION DECREASES

Hokitika Guardian, 13 May 1931, Page 2

BEER CONSUMPTION DECREASES

The shareholders of the Dunedin Brewery Company were informed by the chairman on Friday that the deereasj in'the returns "from Bfe’er duty during the recent months, compared with the corresponding period last year, watt striking evidence of how little heor Wfls being brewed. He said that Christchurch had aluo sufiered badly. This announcement is amply borne out by statistics. • For April the beer duty was £5910 14s 10d, as compared with £9173 15s 4d for the same month last year. Then for the period April-Janpary this year the amount that went into the Government coffers was £23 994 5s 4d. a« compared wit! £30,249 5 s 2d for the same period last year. ‘‘The trade's gone to the pack," declared the licensee of a Christchurch hotel, The story was confirmed by ions barmen, The manager of a Christchurch brewery blamed the hard times for the big decrease noticed in bis company’s output- A report from a smaller brewery was of a «imilar nature, but there the decrease was not so noticeable, as private consumers apparently have not shown the same slackening off in the demand for bottled beer.