A blanket ban on the sale of caffeinated energy drinks in vending machines will rob the industry of £43 million a year from small operators, the industry’s trade body has warned, and set out evidence the Government itself admits is inadequate.
AVA, the Vending & Automated Retail Association, has criticized the Department of Health and Welfare’s decision to ban the sale of caffeinated beverages in all machines, saying it will cost jobs and penalize millions of law-abiding adults.
Under the consultation result published by the DHSC, drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per liter will be banned from under 16s in all shops, online and out-of-home channels. Sales is one channel where the restriction continues: sales are prohibited directly, to everyone, regardless of the age of the buyer or where the machine lives.
The liability depends on the person who controls or manages the premises where the machine is placed, a method that is directly removed from the tobacco law. That comparison, AVA says, is seriously flawed. Tobacco is a dangerous and uniquely addictive product. Energy drinks are regulated, legal drinks that are safe for adults to consume. These two cannot be compared.
The point is both commercial and philosophical. Any business with a machine on site, an office, a gym, a factory site, now faces an enforcement risk it didn’t have before, managed by local authorities with fixed fines of £1,500 for individuals and small firms and £2,500 for large ones.
More than 82 percent of vending machines live in places that children have no access to: workplaces, factories, warehouses and gyms. No evidence has been presented that machines on adult-only sites are a reasonable source of purchase for children. The industry already implements voluntary restrictions that restrict the sale of energy drinks in places frequented by children, such as shopping malls.
Ministers rejected some of the targets on the table, including age-verification technology and location-based restrictions, in favor of a blanket ban. The reason given was ease of use rather than vulnerability. The Government’s response to the consultation accepts that the evidence linking energy drinks to the aforementioned risks is “inconclusive” and does not establish causation.
David Llewellyn, chief executive of the AVA, said: “We are incredibly disappointed by the Government’s decision to continue to ban the sale of caffeinated drinks from all vending machines.” The DHSC acknowledged that the evidence was inconclusive but chose to punish the entire industry instead of pursuing proportionate, targeted measures to protect children.
“£43 million a year will cost jobs, damage businesses and deprive millions of older people of the right to buy a fully legal product. This is not evidence-based legislation, it is a blunt tool used to improve governance, and the industry will pay the price. AVA will continue its efforts to overturn this decision in favor of our members whose businesses are most affected by this decision.”
The timing is wrong. Retail has been one of the quiet success stories of the past two years, with the sector turning over 3.78 billion by 2025 and growing faster than the wider economy. Soft drink revenue, a restricted category, grew by 15.4 percent. 90 percent of operators, mostly SMEs, predicted continued growth this year.
AVA’s position is reinforced by the British Soft Drinks Association, which is committed to not selling or promoting soft drinks to under-16s and labels all caffeinated drinks ‘recommended for children’. The BSDA points out that the majority of caffeine consumed by children and young people comes from sources other than energy drinks.
For consumers, this is the second policy squeeze on the drinks sector in as many years, following Treasury plans to increase soft drinks tax on dairy products. It comes at a time when small business confidence is already at an all-time low.
AVA is calling on the Government to rethink and engage with industry on targeted, evidence-based measures that protect children without imposing disproportionate costs on businesses or removing consumer choice for adults.
