The latest Daily Drinks Tracker from CGA by NIQ revealed drinks sales by value across managed venues in the week to Saturday 25 May were 3% lower than the same period last year.
Attributed in part to the return of heavy rain, trade was particularly “weakened” on Wednesday 22 May, when sales were down by 22%.
Tough comparisons
Sales were down by between 8% and 12% on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday (21, 23 and 24 May), though things were much better on Sunday (19 May), when the final round of Premier League fixtures helped to lift sales by 24%.
There was also growth of 4% on Saturday (25 May), the first week of the Bank Holiday weekend.
Category wise beer performed best, with trade 1% up year-on-year thanks to the interest in Sunday’s football, meanwhile cider, soft drinks and wine all saw a downturn in trade, with sales down 7%, 5% and 1% respectively across the week.
As has been the case for some time, the spirits category saw tough comparisons, finishing 10% behind the equivalent period last year.
Far from ideal
This comes as the previous data showed drinks sales were up 13.3% year-on-year in the two weeks to Saturday 18 May after five weeks of negative numbers, with warmer weather and the Early May Bank Holiday having drawn people to pub gardens.
CGA by NIQ managing director UK & Ireland Jonathan Jones said: “After a solid start to May it’s frustrating to see drinks sales slip back into the red year-on-year.
“The weather has been far from ideal for pubs and bars, and operators and suppliers will be pinning hopes on some prolonged sunshine as we move into the key summer months.
“In the meantime, with consumer confidence still patchy businesses face fierce competition for sales and share.”
