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Manchester Christmas Market stallholders defend record price hikes for booze and food
Some sausages cost as much as £7, with mulled wine starting at £5
Manchester Christmas Market stallholders have defended their decision to hike their prices as food and drink costs reach record highs.
As the annual markets opened to the public yesterday (November 10th), visitors couldn’t help but notice a dramatic increase in the cost of the iconic bratwurst sausages and boozy drinks.
According to the Manchester Evening News, prices have risen by up to £1.50 on food items with some sausages priced at £7, while drinks are up between 50p and £1 with mulled wine starting at £5 and lager at £6 a pint on many stalls.
And one of the most popular stalls at the Christmas Markets, Porky Pig Carvery, has hiked the price of its famous Yorkshire pudding wraps by 50p.
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However, Porky Pig’s owner Eddie Osman said the price increase was ‘inevitable’ given the huge increases in fuel costs.
He said: “We’ve kept our drinks prices the same and tried to keep increases as low as we possibly can with 50p on the famous wrap.”
The owner of the vegan Panc Bratwurst has also hiked up the price of its sausages by £2 from £5 to £7, with owner Hannah Jobe putting it down to its suppliers having gone up in price.
She added: “When you go to any type of market, it might not be the cheapest, but it’s hand-crafted – we cook everything from fresh and there’s so many things in the background people might not think about that has to go into setting prices.”
Manchester’s Finest Group
Manchester City Council’s Christmas spokesperson Councillor Pat Karney also defended the price increases for European stallholders heading back to the markets, adding that many of them have had the extra costs of travel.
This year, it is estimated that just 60% of the 220 stalls at this year’s markets are from the North West and the UK, with the remaining 40% coming from overseas.
He said: “Prices have gone up everywhere as you know, any shop you go in prices have gone up. Over 40% of the people here are from Europe so there’s all different costs associated with that.
“But the emphasis is you can come down and just sit and have a good time for free, you don’t have to buy anything, you can come down and just enjoy the environment.”