As more US states prepare to lift lockdowns, American consumers are considering under what circumstances they will begin returning to bars and restaurants. The biggest concern is social distancing, according to research carried out by Nielsen CGA among 1,600 consumers from the states of New York, California, Illinois and Florida over the weekend of April 24-27.
Confidence is at rock bottom among the bosses of Britain’s pubs, bars and restaurants, with securing a moratorium on debt payments now their main business objective, latest research shows. With cashflow concerns topping their agendas, rent has become the number one specific issue, the latest CGA Business Confidence Survey confirms. Although immediate survival is the top priority, many operators are tentatively developing recovery plans, but with predictions of a return to vastly different and contracted market to pre-COVID times. The poll of over 120 senior executives and entrepreneurs from across the eating and drinking out market was conducted by CGA, in association with hospitality technology specialist Fourth, during the week beginning April 20.
Drinking-in is now the norm in lockdown Britain, with the public increasingly looking to replicate the pub and bar experience in their kitchens and front rooms. New research from CGA shows that this is leading to significantly more people making cocktails and mixed drinks at home.The cocktail boom has been one of the on-trade’s success stories of recent years, with a 10% increase in sales value in 2019 alone. Over 10 million regularly drink cocktails when out, a habit now moving to the domestic environment.
The UK hospitality sector saw sales decline 21.3% in the first quarter of 2020, as the country and the industry moved into COVID-19 lockdown, figures from the newly launched UKHospitality Quarterly Tracker reveal.
The prime minister is safely back in Downing Street, and there are more signs of life in the out-of-home market as the likes of Burger King, Pret a Manger and KFC take tentative steps to reopen sites.But for much of the hospitality and leisure sector, the outlook remains uncertain and confusing. Last week’s pronouncement by chief medical officer Chris Whitty that “disruptive” social distancing is likely to be a feature of day-to-day life even until the end of the year, did nothing to calm the nerves of an already under pressure industry. Read what Peter Martin thinks about the latest news around COVID-19.
Drinking-in is now the norm in lockdown Britain, with the public increasingly looking to replicate the pub and bar experience in their kitchens and front rooms. New research from CGA shows that this is leading to significantly more people making cocktails and mixed drinks at home.The cocktail boom has been one of the on-trade’s success stories of recent years, with a 10% increase in sales value in 2019 alone. Over 10 million regularly drink cocktails when out, a habit now moving to the domestic environment.
The US restaurant industry has now lost two-thirds of its workforce, more than eight million employees, as a result of COVID-19 closures, according to latest data from the National Restaurant Association.It reported that more than 60% of restaurant owners believed that existing federal relief programs would not enable them to keep their teams on payroll during the downturn. It said that nationally restaurants had lost $30 billion in March, and were on track to lose $50 billion in April, and estimated that COVID-19-related loss would be more than $240 billion by the end of the year.
Wine drinking is getting a boost from the COVID-19 crisis, with new research showing that well over half of wine drinkers are either maintaining or increasing the number of times they drink wine.The latest CGA-Buyer Wine Insights Bulletin also finds that of those drinking wine more often, the key drinkers are younger and male, which is a significantly different profile to the typical on-trade wine customer.
Leisure property specialist Davis Coffer Lyons is joining forces with data and insight expert CGA to host a virtual conference on the future of property in the food and beverage market on April 29. Registration now open.
CPL Learning launched its brand-new Cellar to Glass digital learning programme, developed using the expertise of Beer Sommelier Annabel Smith. It provides a comprehensive guide to implementing best practices in the cellar, behind the bar and ensuring that premises are in pristine condition. Delivered in seven bitesize sections the programme has been designed to provide learners with the freedom to explore the content in a way most suited to them. With practical video demonstrations of cellar and bar related tasks, this learning activity is an encyclopaedia of cellar to glass practices.
So when will business – and pubs, bars and restaurant in particular – be able to open up again? It’s the question more people are beginning to ask, and the issue that has consumed much of this weekend’s media.The short answer seems to be ‘no time soon’. The press has been full of speculation, not to say confusion, about the Government’s supposed ‘three-point plan’ to start-up the economy, with talk of traffic-light systems, schools the first to open their doors as early as May 11, and even hope for the eating-out market.Then came Sunday morning, and senior cabinet member Michael Gove appearing on the Andrew Marr Show to put a dampener on everything. Read what Peter Martin says on the latest news around COVID-19.
US restaurants that have managed to stay open during the COVID-19 crisis are seeing sales stabilise, if at a fraction of normal levels, thanks to developing their take-out and delivery capabilities.
Britain’s appetite for hot food delivery may have peaked, according to new research from CGA. While third of consumers said they had ordered delivered restaurant or takeaway food during lockdown, with another 11% planning to, the results suggest there has been no change in demand since pubs and restaurants were closed down.
Britain’s managed pub, restaurant and bar sector saw collective like-for-like sales drop 57.6% in March as the country moved into lockdown, latest data from the Coffer Peach Business Tracker show.
As the country enters another week of lockdown, what is the mood among the leaders of Britain’s pub, restaurant, bar and café companies? How widespread are concerns about furloughed staff, Government payments, loans and rent? And what else is on the minds of operators? Is it too early to start planning for a post-lockdown return to business? How many are already mapping out options? These are some of the vital questions that will be asked in the latest CGA Business Confidence survey, run in conjunction with technology specialists Fourth that will land in leaders’ inboxes this weekend.
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