UK on-trade spirits drop 4.6% in 2023

Research from CGA by NIQ has revealed that UK on-trade spirits sales totalled £7.6 billion (US$9.7bn) in 2023, down by 4.6% on 2022.

CGA noted that 2022 was a ‘particularly good year’, following a turbulent 2021 owing to Covid-19 closures.

The spirits category was weaker than other segments, with total on-trade sales growing by 1.3%. Spirits’ share of total sales fell 1.5 percentage points to 24.4%.

CGA’s Consumer Pulse research also found that 26% of consumers are choosing spirits less often than before, with only 9% increasing how often they buy them.

Although CGA attributes these drops to the cost-of-living crisis, it also noted that premium brands increased their spirits sales share by 1.7 percentage points to 27.4%, while the super-premium segment rose 0.3 percentage points to 8.3%.

Standard spirits still comprise the majority of sales, at 64.3%, although this is a drop of 2 percentage points on 2022.

Cream liqueurs were the only sub-category to grow in 2023, with sales by value up 29.8%. The category accounts for 2.5% of all spirits sales.

Vodka remains the largest sub-category with 28.9% of all spirits sold, with its share increasing by 0.3 percentage points. Total sales, however, were down 3.5%.

Flavoured vodka sales grew 11.2%, while the non-flavoured segment dropped 5%.

Gin lost 0.9 percentage points of spirits share, although non-flavoured gin gained 0.4 percentage points of share from flavoured varieties.

Meanwhile, both Scotch and imported whiskies were up 0.3 percentage points, and brandy rose by 0.1 percentage points. Golden and dark rums grew 0.5 percentage points, while white rum rose 0.1 percentage points.

Recently, CGA’s RSM Hospitality Business Tracker revealed that UK bar sales rose by 5.6% in December, while its Daily Drinks Tracker discovered that on-trade spirits sales struggled over Christmas.