Drinks sales in the on-trade have finished 2% behind the same week last year, with decline seen for a fifth successive week.
When the weather is right, and there’s a big occasion, the on-trade remains popular
CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker, which measures average sales in managed venues, shows sales in the seven days to Saturday (12th August) were down on the same week in August 2022, due to bad weather.
While this decline was less severe than the previous week’s low of -6%, the on-trade experienced a modest recovery thanks to improved temperatures toward the week’s end and the allure of exciting sporting events on Saturday.
There is no doubt that drinks-led operators have faced more challenging trading conditions in the first half of August. Year-on-year sales were down by 15% on Tuesday, but brightened a little on Thursday (up 3%) as temperature rose, before falling back down (down 1%) on Friday. Saturday ended the week on a positive (up 5%), helped by the return of the Premier League and Anthony Joshua’s fight at Wembley.
Category-wise, sales of beer and wine were up 2% and 14% last week, while spirits sales were down 7% and soft drinks fell 8%. Cider, meanwhile, continued to struggle due to the weather (down 20%).
“While challenges driven by poor weather conditions persist, there are promising signs of resilience and adaptability in the sector, and it’s great to see that the week finished on a high note,” said Jonathan Jones, CGA’s managing director, UK and Ireland.
“The return of the Premier League has, no doubt, helped, and the trends show that consumers are still keen to come out into trade, given a good reason to do so.”
