Halloween raises weekend spirits and drinks sales
However, spirits were down 10% due to ‘tough’ comparatives to slip behind the same week in 2021, despite its ‘strong connection’ with Halloween occasions
Average drink sales in managed UK venues have grown 2% year-on-year in the seven days to 29 October due to the “growing popularity” of Halloween, according to CGA by NielsenIQ’s latest Drinks Recovery Tracker,
This marks the sixth week of growth in a row, although it is a dip from the 6% growth of the previous seven days, and “well-below” current rates of inflation in Britain.
While sales were down by 9% year-on-year on Sunday (23 October), they were up on every other day of the week, peaking at 13% and 11% on Wednesday and Thursday (26 and 27 October).
Fridays and Saturdays have been slower for sales than midweek in the last few months, as some people cut back on big nights out. However, CGA said that Halloween brought more consumers out to pubs and bars, and sales were up by 6% and 5% last Friday and Saturday (28 and 29 October).
Continuing the pattern of recent weeks, beer (up 15%) and cider (up 19%) were the best performing drinks categories year-on-year, and soft drinks and wine saw 5% and 7% growth respectively.
However, spirits were down 10% due to “tough” comparatives to slip behind the same week in 2021, despite its “strong connection” with Halloween occasions.
Jonathan Jones, CGA’s managing director, UK and Ireland, said: “Spending is pretty restrained at the moment, but Halloween showed pubs and bars are still central to people’s big social occasions.
“This bodes well for the Christmas season, though with costs and interest rates continuing to rise, there is a long way to go before the On Premise reaches real-terms growth after adjustments for inflation.”
