CGA by NIQ’s latest Daily Drinks Tracker showed average sales in managed venues during the seven days to Saturday 30 November were 1% ahead of the same week in 2023.
It was a “welcome upswing” for the hospitality sector after a tricky previous week with fluctuations throughout autumn, CGA said.
A Positive season
Drinks sales were up year-on-year on five out of the seven days of the week, with growth peaking at 8% on Saturday due to mild weather, Premier League fixtures and St Andrew’s Day celebrations in Scotland.
However, trading was 2% down on Black Friday (29 November).
Category data from the Daily Drinks Tracker suggested it could be a positive season for Long Alcoholic Drinks (LAD), with beer and cider generating above-inflation growth rates of 5% and 4% respectively.
However, CGA detailed as the cost-of-living-crisis continues to bite for consumers, hospitality firms would need to provide “value for money options” over the Christmas period as guests favour longer serves.
A 7% year-on-year jump in soft drinks also indicated that more consumers might be looking for alcohol-free options in pubs and bars this year.
Cautious confidence
By contrast, wine and champagne sales were down by 2% and the spirits category fell by 12%.
The previous tracker from CGA showed average drinks sales were 9% down year-on-year during the seven days to Saturday 23 November, attributed to stormy weather and “patchy” consumer confidence.
Beer (down 5%), cider (down 8%), wine (down 7%) and soft drinks (down 11%) were all impacted by last week’s drop in footfall.
Meanwhile spirits sales fell 20%—one of the steepest year-on-year drops of 2024.
CGA by NIQ’s commercial lead for UK & Ireland, Rachel Weller, said: “It’s always tricky to make year-on-year comparisons at this time of year, but these numbers provide cautious confidence that the On Premise can end 2024 on a high.
“However, suppliers and venues will need the tailwinds of decent weather and a pick-up in consumer confidence to generate real-terms growth.”
