On Premise drinks sales have fallen year-on-year for the fifth week in a row, CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker shows—but there are welcome signs that May will be a brighter month for operators and suppliers.
On Premise drinks sales have fallen year-on-year for the fifth week in a row, CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker shows—but there are welcome signs that May will be a brighter month for operators and suppliers.
Average sales in managed venues for the week to last Saturday (4 May) were 4% behind the equivalent period in 2023. It extends a run of trading that has seen small year-on-year drops of between 0.2% and 6% since early April.
For the second successive week, drinks sales suffered from patchy weather in many parts of Britain. They also faced tough comparisons with a sunny first week of May in 2023, when sales were inflated by the inclusion of a Bank Holiday weekend.
While daily sales were well behind 2023 for the first part of the week, the performance was much better in the second half. Year-on-year sales were up by 6% and 13% on Wednesday and Thursday (1 and 2 May), and they soared by 22% on Saturday—partly because of better weather and partly because it was the start of the 2024 May Bank Holiday weekend. This was despite comparisons with a day that brought a big boost to sales during the King’s Coronation.
Long Alcoholic Drinks (LAD) categories fared best last week, with beer sales up 1% and cider down only 1%. Soft drinks were down 7% and wine up 1%, but spirits endured another difficult week, as sales dropped 19% year-on-year.
“Bank Holidays always make year-on-year comparisons tricky, sales trends have exhibited greater volatility owing to irregular rainfall throughout April”, says Jonathan Jones, CGA by NIQ’s managing director, UK and Ireland.
“Nevertheless, suppliers and operators should be encouraged by strong trading in the first few days of May, which suggests some consumers are starting to spend more. With warmer weather arriving at last and forecasts of more to come, we can expect some favourable conditions—especially for venues with gardens and terraces.”
Barclays Consumer Spend data also revealed that transactions at pub, bars and clubs reached a 2024-high on Saturday 4th May, as the sunny weather and bank holiday weekend encouraged Brits to make a trip to their local. Transactions were up 16.8 per cent in comparison to the previous Saturday, and 2.5x as many sales were processed vs the average day in 2024 so far1.
The Barclays April Consumer Spend Index showed that pubs, bars and clubs enjoyed a 3.9 per cent boost in April, but more broadly, Brits cut back on spending on eating and drinking overall in the month, with restaurants seeing a -13.1 per cent decline2, hampered by the cold weather in the month. However consumers’ confidence in their ability to spend more on non-essential items improved, reaching 56 per cent3, which might suggest that falling inflation, easing interest rates and better weather will spur spending. With UK temperatures set to soar this weekend, it remains to be seen whether growth in pub spending will outpace the bank holiday.
Rich Robinson, Head of Hospitality & Leisure at Barclays said,
“Improving consumer confidence gives more cause for optimism for the hospitality industry. As the summer season approaches, the weather improves, and with major sporting and entertainment events on the horizon, pubs and restaurants will undoubtedly be hopeful that spending will rebound.”
