This recovery follows a challenging period throughout January and early February, according to CGA by NIQ’s Daily Drinks Tracker.
Sales began to recover in the third week of February and continued an upward trend, showing a 4% increase in the week leading up to Saturday 1 March.
This growth was particularly strong on Saturday 28 February, peaking at 14%.
The arrival of brighter weather and February paydays were also identified as key drivers behind increased spending.
Sales remained comfortably ahead on six of the week’s seven days.
Continued momentum
The positive trading continued into the following week, ending on Saturday 8 March, with sales running 8% ahead of the same period in 2024.
Saturday saw an even more substantial increase of 14%, coinciding with the sunniest day of the year so far, which encouraged more people to venture out.
Long alcoholic drinks (LAD) categories particularly benefited from the warmer temperatures and Six Nations rugby fixtures over this two-week period.
Beer sales rose by 5% in the week to 1 March and by 9% in the week to 8 March, while cider saw even greater increases of 7% and 17% respectively.
This highlights the strong influence of sunshine and sport on LAD purchases. Sales of soft drinks and wine also performed well, both being at least 5% ahead over the two-week period.
Future outlook
Spirits experienced a 5% decrease in the week to Saturday 1 March but saw a fractional increase of 0.4% in the week to the Saturday 8 March , marking the category’s first year-on-year growth for some time.
This upturn in spirits sales is attributed to the warmer weather, which has created more opportunities for cocktail consumption.
CGA by NIQ’s Commercial Lead for UK & Ireland Rachel Weller said: “After tough winter trading conditions for suppliers and venues, these figures are hopefully a sign of brighter times to come.
“Sales were well above current rates of inflation across nearly all days and categories and with the triple celebrations of St Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day to come, we can be cautiously optimistic about further real-terms growth.
Speaking on weather conditions impacting trade and consumer confidence, she said: “However, much will depend on the weather, consumer confidence is still volatile and some significant cost rises are looming.
“Businesses will have to stay laser-focused on people’s needs and On Premise trends to sustain sales and protect margins”.
