With the US removing all significant COVID-19 restrictions this time last year, the latest data from CGA by NielsenIQ’s BeverageTrak solution marks the first time the report can compare true year-over-year trends since early 2020. Total US On Premise dollar sales velocity (+1%) is still keeping pace with the pent up demand of last summer. In the most recent period to July 16, check value was up +7% while traffic was down -6% versus 2021.
With many people heading home for the July 4 weekend, the weeks to July 2 and July 9 saw more negative trends in Chicago and New York City versus the rest of the state, driven by a reduction in velocity in the cities.
Daily trends have been variable over the latest two weeks – all key states were positive on Independence Day, with Total US up +21% versus the previous Monday, driven mainly by traffic (+17%).
“With the country having removed all significant COVID-19 restrictions last year, we can now more confidently compare trends directly with 2021,” said Matthew Crompton, CGA Regional Director–North America. “Last summer saw consumers returning to the On Premise in droves to make up for lost time, but a year on from that pent-up demand we’re seeing velocity matching the levels we saw in 2021.
“However, a year on it’s clear that consumer behaviors will continue to evolve – and the channels that consumers frequented pre-COVID-19 have changed, a topic we will explore in our upcoming Channel Strategy Report which will deep dive into 11 unique On Premise channels, and is designed to optimize brand strategy for unique outlet types.”