Speaking to The Daily Express earlier this week, Martin claimed Pepsi was currently the number one draught product sold consistently across the pubcos 800-strong estate each week.
He said: “We still sell a lot of beer as well and a lot of wine, much more wine, and more cocktails, but our biggest selling draught product now is Pepsi.”
Martin added coffee outsells Pepsi when it comes to non-draught products at JDW, which was named one of Europe’s best employers last month.
Changing sales
He also discussed how the company’s food sales have changed over the past three decades: “When we first floated on the stock market in 1992, our average food sales per pub per week were £500, last week they were £23,000."
Martin continued: “If you do a survey and ask people why they go to the pub, the number one issue is atmosphere.
“It’s a woolly concept but we all know what it is when we see it, you’ve got to have a good atmosphere, more than price, more than variety of beers; it’s an illusive thing to try and improve.”
This comes as more than a quarter (28%) of pubgoers said they opted for fizzy drinks when choosing soft drinks in the on-trade, according to Carlsberg Britvic’s Soft Drinks Review 2025.
Shifting consumer preferences
While the figure had dropped slightly on the previous two years (31%), the segment remained the top choice, followed by juice drinks (18%), hot (15%), bottled water (8%), non-alcoholic cocktails (6%), non-alcoholic beer and wine (6%) and non-alcoholic spirits (3%).
Meanwhile, Stonegate, the UK’s biggest pubco, recently shared it had seen a boom in now and low sales across its estate.
The pubco said more than 271,000 units of now and low alcohol beer and cider were sold across its 4,500 pubs and bars in Q1 this year, compared to the same period in 2024, demonstrating a shift in consumer preferences.
