EPR having ‘as much impact’ economically as Trump tariffs, Concha y Toro warns
The EPR scheme instituted by the UK government is having “as much impact economically” as Trump tariffs for importers, Concha y Toro’s technical director Marcelo Papa has told db.
Speaking to the drinks business during db’s recent visit to Chile, the acclaimed technical director at Concha y Toro argued that the changes introduced in the UK and US market are having a large impact on producers.
Talking about the Trump tariffs, Papa argued that these are having “a big effect” and that the company had been absorbing part of the additional costs as “the price of a bottle on the gondola end needs to be the same”.
“But what can we do? It’s something where everyone is in the same boat – and in two more months, [the tariff] might not exist! So there is nothing we could do,” he shrugged.
Papa likened the impact of the US tariffs to the new EPR legislation coming in the UK, saying that in terms of economics, the EPR “will have a similar impact to the Trump tariffs.”
“Today we export around 7 million cases to the UK, whose total market is around 72 – 80million cases – so we make up around 10% of the total market in the UK,” he explained.
The extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging aims to remove the financial burden of packaging from taxpayers and place it on the businesses who place packaged goods on the market. It applies to UK-based business with an annual turnover of at least £1 million that handle more than 25 tonnes of packaging per year. The levy applies to all forms of packaging including aluminium, plastic, cardboard and wood, but the glass industry is expected to bear the heaviest burden due to the fee being calculated by weight.
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At the end of June, the UK government published its final figures following months of uncertainty which saw businesses vent their frustration at being unable to plan effectively for the changes. The provisional EPR fee for glass was originally mooted at £240 a tonne and even though the revised fees dropped to a £192 per tonne, the WSTA argued that the revised fees are still “extortionately high” for glass.
Final modulated fees, based on recyclability, won’t be announced until after April 2026.
Duty banding
Papa also talked about the impact of the new duty banding introduced with the UK, saying that the experience it gained in the Nordic market around ten years ago in lowering the abv of some of its key lines, including on its flagship Casillero Del Diablo wines, had proved important to dealing with the change to the UK duty banding.
“Casillero Cabernet is still growing {in the Nordics] and perception is wonderful, so when we got the duty challenge in the UK, we decided we could go the same way as the Nordics,” he said.
