Drinks sales up 7%
The latest Drinks Recovery Tracker from CGA by NIQ revealed average drinks sales by value in managed venues during the seven days to Saturday 24 June were 7% up compared with the period last year.
In addition to being the ninth week in a row of growth, the tracker also showed sales had seen their best week since the end of April 2023.
This comes as the previous tracker showed sales were also up by 7% in the seven days to Saturday 17 June.
Huge pressures
However, drinks sales continue to compete with onerous inflation, with the latest headline rate estimated by the Office for National Statistics to be at 8.7%.
CGA managing director UK and Ireland Johnathan Jones said: “Nine consecutive weeks of year-on-year growth is a great achievement by On Premise operators and suppliers.
“Despite huge pressures on their disposable income, consumers clearly remain keen to drink out, and pubs and bars have overcome severe cost challenges of their own.”
The week began with 5% year-on-year growth in drinks sales on Sunday 18 June, with many consumers celebrating Father’s Day in pubs, bars and restaurants.
Good outlook
Growth peaked in line with the temperatures at 21% on Thursday 22 June and was also healthy on Friday (up 8%) and Saturday (up 7%).
Category wise, Long Alcoholic Drinks (LAD) were in double-digit growth across the week, with cider sales up 20% and beer up 12%.
Soft drinks (up 8%) and wine (up 2%) also showed solid upswings. However, the spirits categories (down 8%) continued a tough first half of 2023 against strong comparatives.
Jones added: “The recent dip in temperatures may check growth, and inflation and interest rates rises will continue to make life difficult as we move into the second half of 2023, but the long-term outlook for hospitality remains good.”
