This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon is to sell more drinks from the UK and non-EU brewers in the run-up to Brexit.

Champagne and wheat beers produced in France and Germany will be replaced. Sparkling wines from the UK and Australia will be substituted for champagne, while more UK wheat beers will be sold.

The switch will affect all 880 Wetherspoon pubs from 9 July.

The Wetherspoon chairman, Tim Martin, a strong supporter of Brexit, said: “This move helps us to broaden our horizons so that we create an improved offer for the 2 million customers who visit our pubs each week.

“It is the start of a review of all products in the next six to 24 months, with the object of making our business more competitive.

“The EU’s customs union is a protectionist system which is widely misunderstood. It imposes tariffs on the 93% of the world that is not in the EU, keeping prices high for UK consumers. Tariffs are imposed on wine from Australia, New Zealand and the US, and also on coffee, oranges, rice and more than 12,000 other products,” he said.

“There will be an inevitable transfer of trade post-Brexit to countries outside the EU, which will reduce prices in shops and pubs. The products we are now introducing are at lower prices than the EU products they are replacing.

“We intend to honour existing contracts with EU suppliers, some of which have several years to run,” he added.

Sparkling wines from the UK will include Denbies Whitedowns brut and Whitedowns rosé brut, as well as Hardys sparkling pinot chardonnay from Australia.

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The pubs will also serve wheat beers from the UK – Blue Moon, Thornbridge Versa and SA Brains’ Atlantic.

Wetherspoon will continue to serve Kopparberg cider from Sweden. Kopparberg has confirmed that it will be producing its cider in the UK post-Brexit.

Alcohol-free Adnams Ghost Ship will replace Erdinger alcohol-free beer from Germany.