Price of a pint to hit £4 and chocolate and pizza will cost you more too

The average price of a pint of beer is likely to hit the £4 mark, the drinks industry said yesterday.

It blamed an "unprecedented" rise in production and distribution costs.

One leading brewer said it would be forced to pass on large increases to drinkers because of a rise in the cost of barley and hops.

This could be topped up by an increase in beer duty in the Budget next month.

In further bad news, manufacturers warned of rises in the price of some chocolates and pizzas.

Scottish & Newcastle, Britain's biggest brewer which sells three of the top ten beer brands in Europe including Kronenbourg and Fosters, wants to push through inflationbusting price hikes.

In some of the more affluent parts of the country the average price of a pint of beer stands at £3.20.

But the British Beer and Pub Association said customers should not be surprised if their pints suddenly start costing £4 in the coming months.

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Industry experts believe that the change in use of farmland from growing hops to producing environment-friendly biofuels has contributed to the price hike.

Brewers are also suffering from rises in fuel costs and the price of the metals used to produce kegs and cans.

Other sources within the beer trade fear prices could rise by even more than 80p, pushing the average cost of a pint to well above £4.

Iain Lowe, research and information manager at the Campaign for Real Ale, said: "It is a bleak time for everyone. These price rises have been predicted for a long time.

"Hop farmers have not seen any price rises for years, but the appalling summer has finally forced the prices up.

"Prices at the pump could easily go up by 60 per cent."

There is also evidence that consumers are drinking more at home, although Scottish & Newcastle claimed its British profits had suffered because the smoking ban has emptied many pubs of their regulars.

The warning of a rise in the cost of a pint follows a recent announcement from the British Beer and Pub Association that 14million fewer pints are being sold in pubs each day.

Major British brewers saw their profits fall by 78 per cent between 2004 and 2006. The association says the industry is being further hampered by the Treasury, which claims 33p out of the cost of every pint.

The rise in the cost of a pint is likely to further hinder the sale of beer.

Last month it emerged that pubs are closing at the rate of 67 a month as beer sales slump to a record low.

Bars are selling 50 million fewer pints of beer a month than they were a year ago.

Figures show beer sales dropped by almost 10 per cent during December, normally the busiest time of the year.

There was bad news for chocolate lovers as Cadbury indicated that it may have to increase the prices of many of its favourite brands by up to 6 per cent to offset rising costs.

It cited rising dairy prices, a higher cocoa price because of a failed crop in West Africa, and the effect of the boom in Fairtrade chocolate.

Cadbury, which makes Twirl, Dairy Milk, Flake, Boost and Double Decker among other sweets, said worldwide profits for 2007 were down 2 per cent, despite the success of its relaunched Wispa bar.

And Domino's Pizza reported that it had been forced to put up prices because of a 50 per cent increase in the cost of mozzarella cheese and the dough used to make pizza bases.