Corkage fees soar ‘up to £150’ as restaurants start charging more for BYOB
10 September 2024, 08:16 | Updated: 10 September 2024, 08:17
The fees that restaurants charge for customers to bring their own wine has risen to an average of £13.50 a bottle , according to experts.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
One upmarket London restaurant is charging as much as £150 for customers to bring their own bottle.
The corkage fee covers the cost of opening and pouring the wine and washing ump the glasses.
The rise in the fee is due to rising wage, food and energy costs - forcing business owners to raise their corkage fees.
The average fee has risen to between £12 and £15 for each bottle of wine, according to trade publication The Drinks Business.
Trade publication The Restaurant, found corkage at some places in London has increased to more than £100 per bottle.
Read more: King Charles reacts to 'wonderful news' that Princess Kate has completed chemotherapy
One Notting Hill restaurant, Dorian, has increased its corkage fee to £100 plus the cost of another bottle from its wine list, according to the Times.
This means diners are charged a minimum of £150 to bring their own bottle.
The restaurant argues it only has 40 seats and so it needs to charge the fee because it could not make enough money to survive on meals alone.
Joe Lutrario, of Restaurant magazine, said: “Restaurants have been hit by massive cost rises in recent years.
“They are locked into energy contracts so if wholesale prices come down there’s nothing they can do about them until those contracts end.
“Entire chains are bust now and it’s tough to make any margin across the whole restaurant sector."
