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Alcoholic drinks are being advertised for as little as $1 in Tauranga, angering alcohol rehabilitation workers who say it's "cheaper than Coke" and encourages young people to binge drink.
Two liquor stores visited by the Bay of Plenty Times sold premixes - known as ready to drink or RTDs - at four for $4 while another sold 24 rum premixes for $24.
A standard 5 per cent alcohol RTD has a similar alcohol content to the average can of beer.
The sales pitch has provoked outrage from people trying to combat alcohol abuse.
Dave Ludlow from Drug-Arm Tauranga said it was a deliberate attempt from the alcohol industry to groom children to graduate from soft drinks to alcoholic drinks.
"It's ridiculous, it's cheaper than Coke. Why would our kids want to buy a soft drink when they can buy RTDs illegally?" he said.
"They're very sweet, it's like drinking pop."
Mr Ludlow said such cheap RTDs meant it was easy for underage people to access alcohol on a limited budget.
He said most did not have a problem buying it.
"When you see the massive volume and production of RTDs, the liquor industry probably wouldn't admit to it but it is aimed at the younger end of the market. For $10 they can get really drunk and they can afford to do that Friday, Saturday, Sunday."
Mr Ludlow said tax should be increased on alcohol to prevent young people being able to afford it and help pay for the problems alcohol caused in the community.
"I think we need to look at probably doubling the cost of alcohol."
He would also like to see alcohol removed from places young people frequented such as The Warehouse and supermarkets, and he called for a ban on advertising alcohol.
David Benton, the director of the Hanmer Clinic - a Bay drug rehabilitation centre - agreed cheap booze encouraged binge drinking.
He said New Zealand's drinking culture meant it was socially acceptable to drink to excess. "[The prices] pander to a market that wants to buy cheap alcohol and buy a lot of it."
There was considerable research that showed how alcohol advertising influenced children and young people with positive perceptions of alcohol.
Sergeant Nigel McGlone of the Western Bay of Plenty Liquor Licensing Unit said police were looking at issues around alcohol promotion.
Police could not get involved in setting prices for alcohol, he said, but they could suggest what action liquor stores should take. "Everything comes down to being responsible and having a bit of forethought."
But Tauranga stores selling cheap RTDs have defended their actions.
Mill Liquorsave general manager Stephen Fromont did not believe it encouraged underage drinking.
"There's not a lot we can do about that morally.
"All we can do is try to police the Sale of Liquor Act."
Brookfield Liquor King manager Jason Torrance acknowledged the store's billboard advertising $1 RTDs could appeal to youth but said it was not specifically aimed at them.
"It's a deal that we have out there to get people into the shop."
Mr Torrance said that when the shop got good deals from suppliers he liked to be able to pass that on to customers.
However, Lion Nathan corporate affairs director Liz Read said suppliers did not set the price and retailers could sell RTDs as cheaply or expensively as they chose.
"In many instances they [retailers] set the price that's lower than the price we charge them."
She pointed out it was the responsibility of the retailer to meet the requirements of the Liquor Licensing Act.
"The issue with price doesn't change the access that underage people might or might not have to alcohol."
- NZPA
