The CEO of The Wine Society has said the company will hold prices after the government’s alcohol duty changes come into play this August.

Steve Finlan said on LinkedIn that the changes, which include duty reform and inflation, will add 54p to a bottle of wine, a cost the company will absorb until October. And as part of the initiative, the CEO asked members to purchase more wine.

“Rampant inflation and the cost-of-living crisis has led to increased prices everywhere,” he said. “And to make matters worse, the chancellor has just announced in the recent budget the biggest tax rise on wine in the last 50 years.”

“We will pay for inflation, and we will pay the 54p wine duty increase,” he said, adding that the company would need the help of its members.  “Just three bottles more between now and October will enable us to hold prices to the end of the year. Six bottles more we can start to reduce prices,” he explained. “I genuinely believe that working together as co-owners of our business we can turn the tide on rising prices.”

The Wine Society is entirely owned by its members, each of whom holds one share.

Earlier this month, the company announced a new look for its Society range of wines. Throughout 2023, as new vintages are released or stocks depleted, each of The Wine Society’s range of 80 wines will reappear online with fresh packaging, including sustainability measures such as light-weight bottles and the removal of capsules.