On-trade drinks sales burst back to life in the first full week of March, thanks to milder spring weather and big sporting occasions.
CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker shows average sales in managed venues in the week to last Saturday (9th March) were 5% ahead of the same week in 2023. It raises hopes for bright spring and summer trading after tough conditions in January and largely flat sales in February.
Sales were up year on year on six of the seven days of the week. Standouts included Sunday, when the Manchester football derby helped drive growth to +13%.
Midweek matches — plus favourable weather comparatives after a snowy March in 2023 — powered increases of 12% and 9% on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday brought growth of 3%, aided by an Anthony Joshua boxing match, and only Saturday recorded a small year-on-year decline of 1%, despite the benefit of the Six Nations match between England and Ireland.
Sport and better weather made it another good week for long alcoholic drinks categories, with beer sales up by 8% year on year, and cider rising 11%. Soft drinks (up 7%) had their most positive week for a while, and wine (up 6%) was also strong. The spirits category (down 7%) had yet another negative week, although the figure was the second best since new year.
“After the challenges of January and February it’s great to see drinks sales starting spring in good year-on-year growth,” said Jonathan Jones, CGA by NIQ’s managing director, UK and Ireland.
“It will hopefully provide a springboard for big on-premise occasions like St Patrick’s Day and the Easter bank holiday weekend. With events increasing in importance to overall footfall, it will be key for operators and suppliers to make the most of these by creating great experiences around them that will bring consumers out into the trade.”
