THERE'S NO room for complacency in the UK on-trade at the moment. Sales figures, no matter how you look at them, are almost all universally bleak. New and impending regulations and legislation aren’t helping. Incentives for punters to drink at home are ever-increasing (not least the low price of drinks in supermarkets). Rising property prices place growing pressure on already narrow profits, and even Mother Nature hasn’t really cooperated this year, with low temperatures and flooding cutting into the usually guaranteed hot-weather sales of lager and Mojitos.
And yet, for the first time in 10 years, and almost incomprehensibly, the number of visits to on-trade outlets is on the rise. TNS, the bearers of this solitary item of good news in an ocean of calamity and pessimism, have a number of explanations. A far more important factor than changing drinking trends is the new kind of consumer going out to drink. These are not the high-volume drinkers of old. This new consumer is just as likely to order a soft drink or coffee to go with a bite to eat, as they are to have something alcoholic.
When they do drink, these consumers, on the whole, expect a quality product, well served, as well as a quality experience, all as a reward for venturing away from the more affordable, less regulated confines of their homes.
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This was the mantra leading up to the introduction of the smoking ban, but in fact applies to all aspects of the on-trade offering. In the past, licensees might have been able to skimp on the slice of fruit in a G&T, or serve wine a bit on the warm side, but no longer.
Right from the top of the ladder, with branded Champagne bars and exclusive private clubs, all the way down to the mass-market high street pub, quality and innovation are being increasingly prioritised. Good for the consumer, and consequently for the trade.
We’re not out of the regulatory and legislative woods yet though; any negative effects of the smoking ban notwithstanding, the trade has yet to face proposals for a glass ban and unit labelling, as well as deal with ongoing issues regarding the Weights and Measures Act, as well as a potential review of the Licensing Act.
What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger (at least some of the time). Statistically, times may be tough, but there are clearly benefits to be had.
Clinton Cawood
report editor
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