On-trade drinks sales bounced back into year-on-year growth last week, ending a run of five weeks of negative numbers.
CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker shows average sales in managed venues in the week to Saturday (19th August) were 5% ahead of the same period last year.
The return to growth follows a challenging late July and early August, when cool weather kept many consumers away from pubs’ beer gardens and terraces.
However, trading improved in line with the temperatures last week. There was a particular surge in sales in midweek, with Tuesday (up 10%), Wednesday, which was boosted by England’s semi-final victory over Australia (up 17%), and Thursday (up 15%) all in double-digit growth. But trading was more modest on Friday (down 3%) and Saturday (up 4%) as rain moved back in.
Warmer weather lifted the beer category, where sales rose 10% year on year. Wine (up 9%) and cider (up 1%) were also positive, but soft drinks (down 2%) and spirits (down 4%) were both negative.
“After weeks of dismal weather driving declines, operators and suppliers will have been relieved to see some sunshine and a return to positive year-on-year sales performance,” said Jonathan Jones, CGA’s managing director, UK and Ireland.
“With more rail strikes looming, they will be hoping that good weather persists for the rest of the month and into September to help offset a disappointing July and early August, but also need to work on driving footfall in other ways, with a focus on quality and experience for their customers.”
