UK: Drinks sales up, but beer flat, and cider down – over three weeks to April 22nd

Easter holidays and decent weather helped managed UK’s on-trade venues achieve a 7% year-on-year increase in drinks sales over the three weeks to Saturday, 22nd April.

CGA by NIQ’s Drinks Recovery Tracker has shown an 18% increase in the first week of April, followed by drops of 3% and 7% in the next two weeks. Comparisons are skewed by the way Easter dates fell in the calendar in 2022 and 2023, but the three-week comparison provides the most accurate picture of trading over the period.

The 7% growth shows consumers remain eager to drink out in the on-trade. However, with inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, continuing to top 10%, year-on-year sales remained slightly down in real terms over Easter.

In the latest week, sales on Sunday and Monday suffered from comparisons to the key Easter dates in 2022, but they recovered to track 6% ahead on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, before dipping 1% on Saturday amid wetter weather.

Beer sales were flat, while cider and soft drinks were down 10% and 13% respectively. Wine sales were up 3%, continuing a welcome revival of the category, which had a difficult 2022. The spirits category continues to suffer from tough 2022 comparisons, with sales running 22% behind.

“Considering all the pressure on consumers’ disposable income, the solid performance over the Easter period is encouraging, and shows that they are prioritising the on-premise over other discretionary spend,” said Jonathan Jones, CGA’s managing director, UK and Ireland.

“With the next five weeks containing three bank holidays, we can expect further positive performance, especially if the weekends are accompanied by warmer weather.”

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