Drinks suppliers have warned that the UK could be facing a shortage of bottled beers due to to the rising cost of producing glass, with small and medium-sized breweries expected to bear the brunt of the impact.

Scottish wholesaler Dunns Food & Drinks predict that global supplies would dwindle thanks to the price of glass bottles jumping by as much as 80%.

Dunns Food & Drinks operations director Julie Dunn said:

“Our wine and spirits suppliers from around the globe are facing ongoing struggles that will have a knock-on effect. As a result, there could be less variety in the bottled beers we see on UK shelves. Some breweries will convert to cans to ensure consistent supply, whereas others will look at this as devaluing the brand so will inevitably pass the additional cost onto beer drinkers.”

Many pubs and bars are now switching to can-only releases from June to keep costs down. However, as beer brands ditch glass bottles, there are fears that this will put pressure on the already limited supply of aluminium cans.

Along with the cost of glass rising, the cost of the fruit used in the beer has gone up significantly and as Ukraine was the biggest supplier of malt, which is the number one ingredient of every beer, the price of malt has also increased.

There have also been issues with kegs as the connectors were manufactured in Ukraine.