Beer is the big post-lockdown winner as pubs lead on-trade recovery

By Jo Gilbert

Published: 03 August, 2020

Out-of-home drinks sales are continuing to nudge upwards after the end of lockdown, with pubs and beer in most demand so far, it has emerged.

The data, from CGA’s Drinks Recovery Tracker, is the first time we’ve been given a glimpse into how categories are performing as the on-trade rallies post lockdown.

While sales and the number of sites in Great Britain were down across the board in the week to Saturday 25 July, it seems that beer is leading the recovery, with the figures attributed to the faster rate of pubs reopening.

Value sales across the on-trade were down by a quarter (-27%) year-on-year for beer, while drops were much steeper in wine (-42%), soft drinks (-43%) and spirits (-51%).

The faster recovery of beer seems to be directly linked to the pace of pubs reopening compared to restaurants and bars.

According to CGA’s latest Outlet Index data, nearly three quarters (71%) of pubs are now back up and running, compared to only half (50%) of restaurants and even fewer bars (46%), where wine and spirits tend to be in heavier demand.

It’s a trend that has been echoed by sales in the off-trade during the lockdown period.

Last week, Nielsen Scantrack data revealed that beer was the most popular drink via supermarkets (in store and online) during the lockdown period, with consumers spending an additional £737m during the full 17-week period compared to the same time last year.

The increased demand for beer is likely attributed to the relatively cheap price point and that it’s easy to store, Nielsen said, allowing Brits to easily bulk buy and stock up on trips to the supermarket.

Back in June, Mintel’s UK Alcoholic Drinks Review Market Report seems to have accurately predicted that beer would make up for losses in wine and dark spirits with low and no-alcohol drinks continuing to grow against the backdrop of an accelerated trend to health and wellbeing.

It’s important to note that the CGA and Nielsen figures are for the UK only and Nielsen’s data covers supermarket (in store and online) sales only, not the full breadth of the independent sector and other big players like Laithwaite’s and Majestic.

CGA also says that there are “signs the gap is narrowing” between the number of pubs, bars and restaurants reopening, which could lead to a rebalancing of category sales.

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