Warm weather, school holidays, and Easter combined to make it a bumper first half of April for on-trade drinks sales, CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker shows.
Trading momentum has been building for a while, with a decent March followed by a bright start to April — and the upward trend is continuing.
The Tracker’s latest data shows average drinks sales in managed venues in the following two weeks to 5th and 12th April were ahead of the same periods in 2024 by 9% and 7% respectively. After a challenging start to 2025, this means drinks sales have been in year-on-year growth for eight of the last nine weeks.
Widespread sunshine in the first full week of April brought consumers out to pub and bar gardens and terraces. Daily sales were in double-digit growth on most days of the week, and they soared by 50% on Tuesday, 8th April, when temperatures nudged into the 20s. The warm weather gave a particularly big boost to the long alcoholic drinks categories, with beer sales up by 11% and cider soaring by 32%.
The Daily Drinks Tracker shows wetter weather muted sales towards the end of the week, but more sunshine in the run-up to the long Easter holiday weekend unlocked another burst of growth. Daily sales were ahead by 51% on Thursday, 17th April, and by 11% and 14% on Good Friday and Easter Saturday respectively — though these figures are inflated by comparisons to a non-Easter week in 2024.
The week was another strong one for beer (up 6%) and cider (up 11%), while the school holidays made it a standout seven days for soft drinks.
“With the important caveat that Easter skews year-on-year comparisons, these numbers are further encouraging signs of drinks sales momentum in the on-premise,” said Rachel Weller, CGA by NIQ’s commercial lead, UK and Ireland.
“Pubs, bars, and suppliers will be particularly encouraged by trends in the spirits category after a long run of negative numbers. Inflation and increased labour costs will have taken slices out of these incremental sales, and real-terms growth is still far from easy.
“Even so, it’s apparent that some consumers are now feeling more confident about their spending, and we can be optimistic about further growth over the rest of the spring and summer.”
