The Number That Matters

Your total cost to produce a single 440ml can of beer:

Variable costs: ~91p Fixed costs: ~9p Total: ~£1.01 per can

One pound and one penny. That's what it costs you to produce a can of lager in a small brewery. An IPA is essentially the same — around £1.02.

Now look at that supermarket shelf again. The big brewery lager sitting there at £1.20. Your production cost — just to make the beer and put it in a can, before any margin, before any profit, before you've paid yourself a penny — is £1.01. The large brewery's retail price is barely more than your cost price. You are not playing the same game. You're not even playing the same sport.