Adult visits to the pub declined slightly over the last year while family visits were on the rise – reversing the recent trend.
The NPD Pub Tracker shows adult-only visits to the pub in the year to September 2017 were down 0.1% compared to the year before while parties with children of all ages was up 0.5% - accounting for 19.8% of all pub meal occasions during the year.
The data also showed weekend visits reversing the decline of recent trackers, up 0.4% in this period, with weekday visits increasing 0.1%.
The tracker also shows that visits prompted by deals and promotions decreased by 7.4 % - meaning 28.9% of all visits to a pub in the year were driven by deals/promotions.
Cyril Lavenant, foodservice director UK at the NPD Group, said: “Pubs continue to grow at a slower pace than the overall foodservice market in YE September 2017 (Total OOH +0.5%, Pubs +0.2%). In a surprise turn of events, for the first time in many years, independent pubs grew visits by +2.0% in YE September 2017, contributing to overall pubs growth and stealing share from branded pubs (branded - 67%; independents - 33%, up +0.5ppts). Branded pub visits decreased YE September 2016 by -0.7%. The main growth area for independent pubs is visits during the week, while branded pubs are still winning with weekend visits. Have independent pubs finally begun providing consumers with a foodservice offering that resonates well? And can they continue this positive visit trend?
“When it comes to deals and promotions we see that promoted visits are now in decline by -7.4% and visits with no promotion are growing by +3.8%. This is good news for the sector as it means consumers are less promotionally driven when visiting pubs. However, due to the current economic uncertainty, consumers are more and more cautious about their spending which means that they will become increasingly more price aware. In the light of this, it is important that pubs provide attractive meal deals and promotional offerings that work for pubs and for consumers.
“Adult visits are slightly in decline by -0.1%, while family visits continue to grow by +0.5%. The weeks in the run up to Christmas will tell us how 2017 will end for pubs. However, the real challenge will come in 2018, where the still unknown impact of Brexit could hit the channel’s growth. To attempt to negate any significant Brexit impact, pub operators need to continue delivering excellent service as well as high quality yet affordable meals.”
