British beer sales are rising overall despite on-trade drop, says BBPA

As explained in the new The British Beer & Pub Association’s Quarterly Beer Barometer, the boost was linked to the European Football Championships and the drop in beer duty since 2013. Overall, it meant that Britons drank 31 million more pints in April to June 2016, versus the same 2015 period.

Added sales had mainly come from the 4.8 per cent rise in off-trade business during the European Football Championships, said the BBPA. It added that the boost coincided with the reduction in beer duty, which began with a one penny cut in the March 2013 Budget and was then dropped by two more 1p cuts and a freeze this year, as was evidence of the beer category’s growing popularity as a whole.

The beer drinker online donation campaign, named ‘There’s A Beer For That’- Britain’s Beer Alliance’ also showed the growing popularity of beer as a summer drink. 

And while on-trade sales in pubs, bars, and restaurants actually saw a drop in Q2, it actually marked one of the smallest declines in recent Q2 periods, marking an improving sales trajectory overall. On-trade sales have had a difficult few years in comparison to off-trade, with the latter overtaking the former for the first time last year. 

Brigid Simmonds, BBPA chief executive, commented: “These are yet more encouraging figures, and the football has given a real boost to sales. It is quite clear we owe a huge debt of thanks to the cuts in beer duty from 2013. I hope the Government continues with this pioneering change in approach.”

The BBPA was originally founded as the Brewer’s Society in 1904, and now has members across 20,000 national pubs.