On-trade drinks sales have lagged the levels of last year for the second week in a row, in a soft start to the crucial final quarter of 2024.
CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker shows average sales in Britain’s managed venues in the week to last Saturday (5tj October) were 3% behind the equivalent period in 2023.
It means sales have been in negative territory for eight of the last 11 weeks — thanks in large part to disappointing weather over late summer and early autumn.
Sales were down on five of the seven days of last week, the Tracker indicates, with weak trading on the key days of Friday (down 1%) and Saturday (down 5%).
There was year-on-year growth of 3% and 0.3% on Wednesday and Thursday, although this was by comparison to two days in 2023 when train strikes hit footfall in many parts of Britain.
The Tracker’s breakdown of sales shows the beer and wine categories fared best over the week. Beer sales were up by 0.4% while wine finished 0.1% ahead. Cider (down 5%), soft drinks (down 6%) and spirits (down 12%) were all in the red.
‘Positive economic indicators’
“Britain’s weather continues to do the on-premise no favours, and the cool temperatures have made for a tricky start to the last quarter,” said Rachel Weller, CGA by NIQ’s commercial leader UK & Ireland.
“Fractional growth for beer and wine sales was as good as it got last week, and another double-digit decline for spirits doesn’t bode well for the run-in to Christmas.
“Some positive economic indicators suggest that consumers may start to loosen their spending in the months ahead, and the long-term outlook for the sector remains good, but meaningful year-on-year growth remains challenging for now.”
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