Drinks sales spring back to year-on-year growth
Sport and better weather made it another good week for Long Alcoholic Drinks (LAD) categories, with beer sales up by 8% year-on-year and cider rising 11%
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Drinks sales in the UK jumped 5% in the week ended 9 March following tough trading conditions in January and largely flat sales in February.
Sales were up year-on-year on six of the seven days of the week, helped by big sporting events like the Manchester Derby in the Premier League and an Anthony Joshua fight.
Favourable weather comparatives after a snowy March in 202 powered increases of 12% and 9% on the 6 and 7 March respectively.
Only Saturday 9 March recorded a small year-on-year decline of 1%, despite the benefit of the Six Nations match between England and Ireland.
Sport and better weather made it another good week for Long Alcoholic Drinks (LAD) categories, with beer sales up by 8% year-on-year and cider rising 11%.
Soft drinks, up 7%, had their most positive week for a while, and wine, up 6% was also strong.
The spirits category was down 7%, yet another negative week, although the figure was the second best since new year.
Jonathan Jones, CGA by NIQ’s managing director, UK and Ireland, said: “After the challenges of January and February it’s great to see drinks sales starting Spring in good year-on-year growth.
“It will hopefully provide a springboard for big On Premise occasions like St. Patrick’s Day and the Easter bank holiday weekend. With events increasing in importance to overall footfall, it will be key for operators and suppliers to make the most of these by creating great experiences around them that will bring consumers out into the trade.”
