Thinking of
quenching your summer thirst with some ice cold beer? Better brace
yourself for some disappointment as a number of wine shops and bars in
the city are gracing their doorsteps with ‘no stock’ signs. The reason? Dealers, who supply beverage brands to them are unable to provide them with enough stock. With
wine shops mushrooming in every nook and corner of the twin cities
including the suburbs, there is a huge gap between the demand and supply
of liquor, leading to a shortage of beer, say shop owners. The
situation is such that wherever one orders a beer, the standard reply is
that only ‘lager’ beer is available and stocks of strong and very
strong brands are temporarily not available. “With the onset of
summer, we expected an increased demand for liquor, especially chilled
beer, but the supply is way below our expectations. Dealers have failed
to supply beer brands complaining of no stock,” said S Shanker Goud,
manager of a famous bar and restaurant located at Kompally. But
for pubs and lounges in the city, shortage of beer does not seem to be a
cause of concern with most of them inviting customers for chilled beer.
“As the demand for various beer brands remains huge, we have
made every effort to keep the beer flowing, especially keeping in view
the sunny days ahead,” said Sandeep Mehta, chief executive officer (CEO)
of Bottles and Chimney, Begumpet. But the situation remains dry for the around 500 wine shops and 100 bars and restaurants in the twin cities.“Every
wine shop stocks at least 200 bottles of different brands of beer
during the hot month of March. But, this year, most shops have a ‘no
stock’ sign. Since the demand is still high, we are providing only
Kingfisher. There were reports that a staggering number of 48,000
bottles per day are generally sold in March but the situation is
disappointing this time around,” said D Venkateswara Rao, general
secretary of Andhra Pradesh Wine Dealer Association. Accusing the
AP Beverage Corporation of reluctance in taking orders for more stocks,
a delegation of managements of wine shops, bars and restaurants led by
the AP Wine Dealer Association had met the Minister for Excise and
Prohibition, Mopidevi Venkataramana, a few days ago. “The
minister has promised to supply all brands of beer to meet the
increasing demand. He said that at least 10 lakh cases of beers will be
stocked for the convenience of customers and wine dealers,” Venkateswara
Rao added.
By Mouli Mareedu
moulimareedu@gmail.com
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