Comment: A turning point
The recent British Beer & Pub Association figures showing that beer sales in November fell by 10 per cent year-on-year were alarming.
But the month that should have caused more concern was October. The decrease in volume was only 7.7 per cent year-on-year, the lowest fall in the quarter. However this happened to be in the month when on three weekends England were in sudden-death matches in the Rugby World Cup - just the kind of occasion to traditionally boost pub beer sales. Yet despite England winning the quarter and semi-finals and reaching the final, pubs could not halt the massive sales slide.
Many outraged licensees have said on thepublican.com's message board that this is all the fault of the smoking ban. They're missing the point. Certainly the ban has sped up the process, but beer sales have been in some form of decline for years.
What we are witnessing is significant social change. We're moving away from session drinking; we spend more of our social lives drinking products free of alcohol, such as coffee or smoothies. How the industry responds to this enormous challenge is the key to the future of the pub.
Fighting for a return to an industry of wet-led, smoke-filled boozers is like the miners trying to stop the closure of the mines in the 1980s - understandable, but ultimately pointless. You can't fight the forces of economic change. The question is do you hold on stubbornly to the past or try and embrace the new era?
