Who this is for
Brands planning to sell in the UK, and the distributors who take them on. It answers the question every launch starts with: if I sell at this price, what will a bar or shop charge, and is that a price the market will pay?
How UK drinks get to market
Most brands don't sell straight to bars or shops. They sell to a UK importer or distributor, who brings the stock in, pays the duty and sells it on.
- On-trade (bars and restaurants): brand, then distributor, then wholesaler, then bar. Some distributors sell direct to bar groups, so you can switch the wholesaler off.
- Off-trade (shops and supermarkets): brand, then distributor, then retailer. Retailers buy from the distributor direct, so there's no wholesaler step.
What each step means
Ex-cellar price
Your price per bottle at your door, before shipping, UK costs and UK duty. The calculator shows it both ways: before duty, and with duty added so you can compare it with duty-paid prices. If you quote a delivered price, tick the shipping box and the freight line drops out.
Landed cost under bond
Ex-cellar price plus everything it costs to get the stock into a UK bonded warehouse and out to a customer, before duty. Bond storage and receipt, handling and dispatch (RHD) are the warehouse's charges.
Duty-paid delivered (DPD) cost
Landed cost plus UK alcohol duty. This is the distributor's real cost and the floor for their price. Duty is worked out automatically from the category, ABV and bottle size at current HMRC rates.
Brand support and annual volume
Many brands fund part of the distributor's margin with a retro or contribution per bottle, so the shelf or menu price lands where it needs to. Add your projected volume for the year, in bottles, cases or 9-litre cases, and the calculator shows your total investment next to your total volume and revenue. A 9-litre case is the industry's standard volume measure: 12.857 bottles of 70cl, or 12 bottles of 75cl.
Distributor, wholesaler, bar and retailer
Each one adds its margin on its own selling price, ex VAT. Margins compound, so a few points at the top of the ladder move the shelf price a long way.
Selling price = buying price ÷ (1 − margin)
Worked example
A 70cl, 40% spirit at $14.00 ex-cellar is £10.77 at $1.30 to the pound, or £20.29 with UK duty added. £1.13 of shipping, labelling, bond, handling and delivery takes it to £11.90 under bond, and £9.52 of duty makes £21.42 duty-paid delivered. With £1.00 a bottle of brand support, the distributor's net cost is £20.42. At a 25% margin it sells to the wholesaler at £27.22. At 18% the wholesaler sells to the bar at £33.20, and at 75% GP the bar charges £11.38 for a 50ml serve. The same bottle through a retailer at 30% margin sits on the shelf at £46.67.
The margins in the calculator are examples, not market rates. Agree real numbers with your distributor and customers.