Under-30s now socialise in homes more than in pubs and bars, according to a new market overview from CGA Peach that highlights the “fickle” nature of modern consumers.
CGA’s consumer survey found that overall consumers still favour going out for a drink, with an average of 1.03 visits per week, than to socialise in a friend’s house, with one visit made on average.
However, under-30s make 1.44 visits to friend’s houses and drink out 1.31 times.
The figures were revealed at a supplier day for Intertain, the Walkabout bar operator.
There’s more positive news, however, for other leisure sectors, with the younger generation going out more often for a meal (0.58 visits per week, against 0.51 among the general population) or to visit a coffee shop (0.99 versus 0.89).
Meanwhile, the research highlights the impact of the craft beer boom, with c9,000 outlets expected to sell craft beer by 2016 and 26% of all cask beer now coming from microbrewers.
Scott Elliott, CGA business unit director – retailer services, said the modern consumer is “fickle” with “high expectations”.
One in our have a repertoire of more than 10 brands that they use and on average one in four of a brand’s consumers are first-time users.
Meanwhile, “inquisitive” customers are driving change in the category mix, the research found, with modern consumers having an average of 8.6 categories in their repertoire.
Growth has been driven by categories linked with innovation and quality such as world lagers (+5% in the year to 20 April 2013), craft beers (+55%), premium bourbon (+40%) and packaged cider (+14.2%).
Other trends highlighted include the growth of premiumisation in most spirit categories. For example, while tequila is growing 25%, premium tequila is at +43%. Overall premium sprits are outperforming mainstream by 31% and 50% of mainstream outlets stock premium spirits.
There’s been a growth in flavoured drinks, with 40% of bottled cider sales now being a fruit variant, and flavoured spirit volumes up 14% year-on-year.
The move towards premiumisation also exists in soft drinks. In total 43m premium soft drinks were sold last year, a rise of 50%, while volumes of premium mixers grew 61% year-on-year.
Separately, Elliott said this year the average wet-led pub sells £200 more food per week than it did three years ago. “It’s not just casual dining and food-led pubs that are driving food,” he stated.
