Adnams has reported early signs of success after reducing the alcoholic content across several products in its beer range.
The Suffolk-based brewer, known for its 0.5 per cent Ghost Ship low-alcohol beer, decided last year to introduce more lower-strength beers to meet consumer demand and avoid costly alcohol duty increases.
Products including the firm’s bitter and IPA now carry a 3.4 per cent ABV strength, sitting below the 3.5 per cent threshold at which a £22 per litre duty rate applies.
Under current rules, any drink below 3.5 per cent strength attracts a significantly lower charge of £9 per litre, making the reduced ABV products considerably cheaper to produce from a tax perspective.
“These changes not only align with consumer trends but also offer us an opportunity to create more value to invest back into the growth of our brands,” Adnams said.
“We are confident that the flavour of our beers will remain uncompromised, thanks to the expertise of our brewing team.”
The Aquis-listed firm recorded a one per cent decline in off-trade beer volumes, but this outperformed a wider market decline of five per cent.
Adnams posted a six per cent decline in turnover for 2025 to £63.7m, though pre-tax losses were cut by three-quarters to £0.7m after the firm sold off a number of pubs to reduce debt costs.
“This balance sheet restructuring was enabled by the disposal of a number of property assets, and whilst this was a difficult decision to implement, it was absolutely necessary to enable the company to survive,” Adnams said.
“The assets for disposal were carefully selected according to a variety of criteria including, but not limited to, their historically low returns, unattractive earnings prospects or their peripheral locations when compared to our core geographic footprint.”
Adnams chairman Simon Townsend warned that the company continues to struggle to absorb government-imposed cost increases, including higher national insurance contributions, higher minimum wage rates and new employment rights regulations.
“The entire UK hospitality industry remains hugely overtaxed and will incur further employment cost increases in 2026,” Townsend said.