Storm Éowyn curtails drinks sales revival in January

Drinks sales in the UK fell 5% year-on-year in the seven days ended Saturday 25 January as Storm Éowyn caused people to stay at home, according to data from hospitality consultants CGA.

Daily trade slumped 14% on Friday 24 January as Storm Éowyn raced in and many consumers were advised to stay at home.

Although the next day was less affected by the windy weather, sales were down by 6% year-on-year.

Most major drinks categories were equally affected by the storm, with sales of beer, cider, soft drinks and wine all down by between 2% and 4% across the week.

This came after a week of revival following a post Christmas slump, with drinks sales in the week ended Saturday 18 January, rising 2% after falling 9% in the first full week of January.

The solid performance was partly driven by decent weather and some high-profile football fixtures on Tuesday 14 and Wednesday 15 January, which triggered sales uplifts of 9% and 10% respectively.

Long Alcoholic Drink (LAD) sales saw the most benefit, with beer and cider sales both rising above inflation at 4%.

The soft drinks category also rose 4%, as some consumers switched away from alcoholic options for Dry January.

It has been a tough start to the year in the spirits category, where sales dropped by 11% and 19% in the weeks to 18 and 25 January respectively.

This extends a long run of negative numbers for spirits, which have been affected by the trends of moderation, earlier drinking-out and pressure on spending that has led some drinkers to switch to other categories.

Rachel Weller, CGA by NIQ’s commercial lead, UK and Ireland, said: “After a slow start to the year, On Premise drinks sales were starting to build some momentum before being blown away by Storm Éowyn.

“Better weather and the end of Dry January will hopefully start to release some pent-up demand for drinking-out, but any real-terms growth will be hard-earned for the foreseeable future.”