The most recent Daily Drinks Tracker, released Friday 13 September, showed drinks sales by value in managed venues were down by 12% in the week to Saturday 7 September compared with the same period in 2023.
It marked one of the biggest gaps in sales so far in 2024, CGA added, attributed to “difficult comparatives” with last September having seen widespread sunshine and temperatures into the 30s, against a “generally challenging” summer this year.
Brightest spot
Trading was down year-on-year on all seven days of the week. The start of the Premier League season made Sunday (1 September) the best of the seven, with sales down 6%.
However, the gap widened to between 16% and 22% from Monday to Thursday (2 to 5 September), and there was an 8% drop on both Friday and Saturday (6 and 7 September).
The data followed more positive comparisons in the previous tracker, where sales were estimated to have hit 1% growth after three weeks of negative numbers.
Category wise, wine was the brightest spot for suppliers and operators over the course of the week, with year-on-year growth of 1%.
Dismal summer
Though sales were behind by double-digits in all four of the other main categories: beer (down 10%), cider (down 30%), soft drinks (down 16%) and spirits (down 16%).
CGA by NIQ commercial leader UK & Ireland Rachel Weller said: “After a bumper start to last autumn, year-on-year growth was always going to be unlikely in the first week of September.
“The gulf in sales shows the all-important influence of sunshine on footfall, and the On Premise has undoubtedly suffered from a dismal summer of weather.
“After a tough run of trading, the final third of the year is going to be even more crucial to businesses than ever."
