The latest Lumina Intelligence UK Pub & Bar Market Report showed consumers’ lifestyles are changing, meaning they are drinking less as well as visiting the on-trade and returning home earlier.
Winding down or relaxing has become the fastest-growing reason to visit a pub, overtaking treat occasions, to become the joint third most popular mission.
This signals a move away from high-tempo visits towards lower-tempo and lower-spend occasions, the report said.
Health-conscious habits are also on the rise, according to Lumina, opening the door for pubs to offer more nutritious, functional food and drink options.
This has seen alcohol-free occasions increase, with fruit juices and smoothies leading the charge in non-alcoholic growth, gaining 1.9ppts (percentage points) in terms of occasion share.
Meanwhile, the latest data from Barclaycard showed consumer spending on digital content and subscription services saw a 5.6% uptick year-on-year.
Home comforts
Comparatively, spending in pubs and bars grew 0.5%, demonstrating increased desire for home comforts.
Barons CEO Clive Price told The Morning Advertiser (MA) the Surrey-based pubco was “embracing” earlier dayparts with set price lunches and brunches.
“People are not coming out as late as they used to. That early part of the day looks like it could be a growing market, we hardly get any bookings past 7.30pm anymore. If we see an 8pm booking [in our diary], it is actually unusual.” he said.
Price added Barons was also focused on acquiring more freehold sites, including more daytime-led businesses as its Horsell Common café was trading well.
Speaking at the MA Leaders conference in Norwich on Wednesday 8 October, Marcus Hospitality Group owner Marcus Pearcey explained his business had also introduced initiatives to increase daytime trade at a number of its venues.
At Butcher Bhoy, an Irish-themed pub and bar in Norwich, a bakery has been built at the front of the venue to target midweek daytime trade.
Additionally, Kerry’s, a cocktail bar in Norwich, now features a hatch serving coffees and cakes in line with consumer demand.
It also offers a subscription model, where customers can pay a monthly fee and get unlimited coffee at multiple venues the group operates in the city.
Pearcey added two of the group’s venues outside of the city had recently introduced a breakfast offering, which had proved popular. He said pubs needed to meet competition from coffee shops “head-on”.
Core business
“You’ve got to reflect what goes on around you. People aren’t buying alcohol during the day; they are drinking coffee.
“During the week, I haven’t got many people asking me for Espresso Martinis, I’ve got people asking me for cappuccino, so that’s what we will give them.
“[The pub] will always be our core business but we need to pay the national insurance costs and rent bills, and you can’t do that by standing still, you have to change and react to what’s going on.
“If you don’t meet that challenge head-on and look at your business and keep pushing those bills into the filing box, they will come and bite you,” Pearcey continued.
Meanwhile, owner of the Murderers/Gardeners in Norwich, Phillip Cutter, told attendees any trade after 10pm had become a “bonus”, adding dynamics within the sector are changing and businesses needed to be “fluid” with their offering.
Furthermore, founder of Anglican Country Inns Cliff Nye told delegates late-night drinking was “finished”.
He said: “Most pubs are empty from 8am to lunchtime. But you can buy a loaf of sourdough bread, toast it and put some egg on it, sell customers a cup of coffee with it, then they have a sandwich in the pub, and you’re filling those empty tables in the morning.”
As consumers favour earlier, more mindful social occasions, it’s clear the traditional late-night pub visit is evolving, with coffees and mid-morning brunches redefining the role of the pub.
