On-trade drinks sales picked up in mid-January after a slow start to the year — but fell away again as stormy weather swept Britain.
CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker shows that a late Christmas surge in average sales in managed venues was followed by a 9% slump in the first full week of January.
However, footfall and spend recovered in the seven days to Saturday, 18th January, with sales finishing 2% ahead of the equivalent week in 2024.
The solid performance was partly driven by decent weather and some high-profile football fixtures on 14th and 15th January, which triggered sales uplifts of 9% and 10% respectively. It was a particularly good week for long alcoholic drinks (LADs), with beer and cider sales both rising above inflation at 4%. The soft drinks category also rose 4%, as some consumers switched away from alcoholic options for Dry January.
However, drinks sales came back down with a bump the following week, with a year-on-year drop of 5% in the seven days to 25th January. Daily trade slumped 14% on 24th January as Storm Éowyn raced in and many consumers were advised to stay at home. Although the next day was less affected by the windy weather, sales were down by 6% year-on-year. Most major drinks categories were equally affected by the storm, with sales of beer, cider, soft drinks, and wine all down by between 2% and 4% across the week.
“After a slow start to the year, on-premise drinks sales were starting to build some momentum before being blown away by Storm Éowyn,” said Rachel Weller, CGA by NIQ’s commercial lead, UK and Ireland.
“Better weather and the end of Dry January will hopefully start to release some pent-up demand for drinking out, but any real-terms growth will be hard-earned for the foreseeable future.”
