As per the Public Health Alcohol Act that became law in 2018, Section 23 is due to commence on Monday the 11th of January it will be illegal to offer discounted Alcohol products in certain circumstances.
You can still run discounted promotions on Alcohol after Jan 11th but not promotions that only reward the customer when they buy more than one unit of the product.
There is no relationship between special packs (multipacks) like Guinness 4 packs/8 packs etc and loose cans in the eyes of the new legislation.
Special packs continue as normal.
What the law says, is that if you are selling Guinness single cans on the shelf for €2.50 each you cannot sell 4 for €8 you must charge €10 for 4 cans.
If you want to run a 4 for €8 on loose cans you need to change the everyday price on the shelf for the single can to €2 and offer one can of loose Guinness for €2 while the 4 for €8 runs.
What the legislation wants is to stop promoting volume-based promotions that offer discounts to customers for buying more.
The “principle” is that there should not be a situation where there is a financial incentive or reward for a consumer to buy more alcohol and receive a benefit for so doing.
It’s the essence of denormalisation ; alcohol is a unique product and “ordinary” retail rules should not be applied to it. The new rules also provide for the prohibition of alcohol purchases being applied to loyalty cards or people purchasing alcohol using loyalty cards.
Click here to view the Statutory Instrument that relates to the Regulations around the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Products.