‘the worst part of bad year’
The Christmas season, usually one of the major beer selling seasons, has seen an alarming drop of almost 10 percent in beer sales.
Despite the gloom and doom scenario, pub companies remain cautiously optimistic over the short term. Yet, they would say that, wouldn’t they, since the biggest ones are listed companies and do not want to frighten their shareholders. Managed pub operator JD Wetherspoon has added its own note of warning about pub trading to those of other operators as it updated the market on trading at the end of January 2008.
Wetherspoon reported like-for-like sales for the 11 weeks to 13 January 2008 falling by 3.2 percent, “with the anticipated pattern of strong food sales growth combined with a decrease in bar sales”.
In the year to date – 24 weeks to 13 January 2008 – like for like sales decreased by 2.0 percent, while overall group sales rose by 0.4 percent.
Wetherspoon admitted to declining sales of premium lager and spirits and a rise in sales of real ale, food and coffee. The group said it sold one million cups of coffee and tea in the Christmas fortnight.
Wetherspoon’s results underline the negative impact of the ban on smoking which was introduced into England’s pubs in July 2007. Industry observers thought that pubs and brewers would be hit hard by the ban but no one had any idea how hard. It is believed that beer sales in pubs - about 55 percent of overall sales by volume - were likely to fall behind the take-home trade this year for the first time in living memory.
