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Today the British Beer and Pub Association released their latest Quarterly Beer Barometer statistics. To be honest, the figures weren’t that different from the previous ones, with an overall year-on-year fall in beer volumes of 5.1% being recorded, as against 4.7% last quarter. So much for the anti-drink lobby constantly bleating about Britain’s ever-growing drink problem.
The fall for the on-trade was in fact slightly less than that for the off-trade, which tends to be more price-sensitive. The previous trend of a steady move from on- to off-trade consumption very much seems to have stalled recently, and it will be interesting to see whether this continues to be reflected in future figures. Another question mark is whether the beer duty cut in the Budget will filter through in to healthier sales figures (or at least a reduction in the rate of decline) in the remainder of the year.


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