Jan drinks sales rise 9% YOY
This trend is particularly impacting the sales of spirits, where sales last week were 8% below the same period in 2022
Average drinks sales in Britain for the seven days ended 28 January 2023 were 9% ahead of the same period in 2022, according to the latest data from CGA strategy.
This increase follows double digit increases in the previous three weeks of January. Drinks sales rose 24% in the first week of January, 13% in the second week and 11% in the third week of January.
This growth has continued to stay ahead of inflation. However, this is the first week of less than double-digit growth since early December.
Comparisons have also been favourable because of the tough January 2022, when the On Premise was disrupted by lingering concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
Five of the seven days of last week recorded double-digit sales increases, peaking at 18% on Tuesday. However, the year-on-year growth numbers dipped on Friday and Saturday, a sign that some consumers may be reducing big nights out at the weekend.
CGA said this trend is “particularly impacting” the sales of spirits, where sales last week were 8% below the same period in 2022.
Jonathan Jones, CGA’s managing director UK and Ireland, said: “January delivered some very welcome year-on-year growth for operators and suppliers, albeit against a weak first month of 2022. It’s shown that people still want to drink out whenever possible, but we’re starting to see weekend and Spirit sales flatten as some consumers trim their spending.
“With business and household costs still mounting and more rail strikes looming, February could be a challenging month for operators and suppliers.”
