Average drinks sales in Britain’s managed venues dropped by 12% year-on-year in the week to last Saturday (7th September), CGA by NIQ’s latest Daily Drinks Tracker shows.
It’s one of the biggest gaps in sales of 2024 so far, and is the result of difficult comparatives against September 2023, which brought people out to drink in widespread sunshine and temperatures into the 30s. It is an abrupt reversal from the encouraging end to August, after a generally challenging summer.
Trading was down year on year on all seven days of the week. The start of the Premier League season made Sunday the best of the seven, but even then sales were down 6%.
However, the gap widened to between 16% and 22% from Monday to Thursday, and there was an 8% drop on both Friday and Saturday.
The wine category was the brightest spot for suppliers and operators over the course of the week, with year-on-year growth of 1%. But sales were behind by double digits in all four of the other main categories: beer (down 10%), cider (down 30%), soft drinks (down 16%) and spirits (down 16%).
“After a bumper start to last autumn, year-on-year growth was always going to be unlikely in the first week of September,” said Rachel Weller, CGA by NIQ’s commercial leader, UK and Ireland.
“The gulf in sales shows the all-important influence of sunshine on footfall, and the on-premise has undoubtedly suffered from a dismal summer of weather. After a tough run of trading, the final third of the year is going to be even more crucial to businesses than ever.”
