UK drink sales dip amid bad weather conditions, CGA says

Drinks sales in the seven days to Saturday 12 August were down 2% on the same week last year due to bad weather, CGA by NIQ’s daily drinks tracker shows.

While this decline was less severe than the previous week’s low of -6%, the tracker experienced a modest recovery thanks to improved temperatures toward the week’s end and the allure of exciting sporting events on Saturday.

Drinks-led operators have faced more challenging trading conditions in the first half of August. Year-on-year sales were down by 15% on Tuesday (8 August), but brightened a little on Thursday (up 3%) as temperature rose, before falling back down (down 1%) on Friday. 

Saturday ended the week on a positive note (up 5%), helped by the return of the Premier League and Anthony Joshua’s fight at Wembley.

Category-wise, sales of beer and wine were up 2% and 14% last week, whilst spirits sales were down 7% and soft drinks fell 8%. Cider meanwhile continued to struggle due to the weather (down 20%).

Jonathan Jones, CGA’s managing director, UK and Ireland, said: “While challenges driven by poor weather conditions persist, there are promising signs of resilience and adaptability in the sector and it’s great to see that the week finished on a high note. The return of the Premier League has no doubt helped and the trends show that consumers are still keen to come out into trade, given a good reason to do so.”