The end of the large wine? Experts find health measure might not harm pubs

It may cause sour grapes among those halfway through dry January, salivating over the thought of that sauvignon blanc in a fortnight’s time.

But experts at Cambridge University have found that taking the biggest serving of wine off bar menus could benefit the nation’s health without hurting pubs’ profits.

Researchers found that removing the largest measure – usually 250ml – from sale leads to an average fall in wine revenues of just under 8% – but not without some customer complaints.

They said this finding meant people could be “nudged” into drinking less, which could have a positive effect on their bodies. Furthermore, the study found no evidence that people would make up for it by buying more beer or cider.

The research, published in Plos Medicine, found that removing large wine glasses led to a drop in the amount of wine sold at pubs and bars of just under 8% on average.

Taking into consideration factors such as day of the week and total revenue, taking away big glasses led to an average decrease of 420ml of wine sold per day per venue.

Researchers found no evidence the move affected total profits, suggesting pubs and bars did not need to worry about losing money. This was perhaps due to the higher profit margins of smaller serving sizes of wine, the experts suggested.

However, managers at four of the 21 premises in the study reported receiving complaints from customers.

The first author, Dr Eleni Mantzari, from the University of Cambridge, said: “It looks like when the largest serving size of wine by the glass was unavailable, people shifted towards the smaller options, but didn’t then drink the equivalent amount of wine.

“People tend to consume a specific number of units – in this case glasses – regardless of portion size.

“So, someone might decide at the outset they’ll limit themselves to a couple of glasses of wine, and with less alcohol in each glass they drink less overall.”

Drinking too much is the fifth largest contributor to premature death and disease worldwide, figures show.

According to the World Health Organization, the harmful use of alcohol resulted in approximately 3 million deaths worldwide in 2016.

The Cambridge team carried out a study in 21 licensed premises (mainly pubs) in England – in London, Cambridgeshire, Southampton, Gloucester, Brighton and Hove – to see whether removing their largest serving of wine by the glass for four weeks would have an impact on how much wine was consumed.

However, the researchers were unable to assess the sales of other alcoholic drinks apart from wine, beer and cider, estimated to comprise approximately 30% of alcoholic drinks sold in participating premises.

According to the experts, even though removing the largest serving glass would be acceptable to pub or bar managers, given there was no evidence that it would result in a loss in revenue, the alcohol industry may resist the move.

Public support for such a policy would also depend on its effectiveness and how clearly this was communicated, they added.