A drinks wholesalers that changed best before dates on beer barrels has been ordered to pay more than £11,000 in fines and costs.
Dawsons (Wales), based in Porthmadog, Gwynedd, relabelled 54 beer barrels with false batch numbers, barcodes, and durability dates.
Private investigators working on behalf of Heineken tipped off council staff in North Wales.
The firm admitted labelling breaches at Caernarfon Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (14 February).
The company pleaded guilty to carrying out business for a fraudulent purpose and three other offences, including misleading advertising.
The firm’s solicitor told the court the relabelled barrels were a “tiny proportion” of the business and argued that the company had co-operated fully with the investigation.
Dawsons was established more than 30 years ago and supplies drinks to pubs, restaurants and festivals in north Wales.
