On-trade drinks sales dipped well below last year’s levels for a second week, with cold weather adding to the challenges of consumers’ slow post-Christmas spending.
CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker shows average sales in managed venues in the week to last Saturday (20th January) were 8% behind the same period in 2023. It follows a 7% drop in the previous seven days.
Sales were down year on year on all seven days of the week, with Monday (down 2%) and Tuesday (down 4%) the two best performers. A cold snap and travel disruption in some parts of the country then made for a challenging weekend, and trading fell by 9% on Friday and 10% on Saturday.
All drinks categories had a tough week, with beer (down 5%), wine (down 4%) and soft drinks (down 8%) all in the red, while cider (down 1%) was the most resilient. The spirits category continues to struggle, with sales 19% below the same week in 2023.
“The double whammy of consumers saving money after Christmas, Dry January, and bad weather is making this a hard month for pubs and bars,” said Jonathan Jones, CGA by NIQ’s managing director, UK and Ireland.
“Storms Isha and Jocelyn will have given them another difficult week, and operators and suppliers will be crossing fingers for more settled weather soon.
“There are some positive signs that consumers’ spending confidence will improve as 2024 goes on, but sustained real-terms sales growth feels some way off at the moment.”
