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CGA, an international data and insight consultancy that covers the “eating & drinking out market” has released its latest COVID-19 *On Premise Impact Report which revealed that drinking out as a social activity has returned with a vengeance.
The latest CGA’s BeverageTrak data, showed that trading velocity (read: the speed at which a business makes money) was much higher than the same time last year when much of the US was locked down – up 225% compared to 2020 in the week to May 1.
According to the Drinks Business, 98% of states in the US have bars open indoors with some capacity measures still in place.
Matthew Crompton, CGA’s client solutions director, Americas said this was particularly encouraging…“The country is by and large completely ‘open’ again now – our research shows that there isn’t any states left where you cannot make an indoor On Premise visit of some kind.”
Crompton noted that although the California market had taken longer than other states to ease restrictions on restaurants and bars, there was evidence that the state was bouncing back, as the US “roared back to life.“
“We are now seeing a real bounce back in the state with it showing the best trends out of all states analyzed versus last year,” he added. “The country is by and large completely ‘open’ again now – our research shows that there isn’t any states left where you cannot make an indoor On Premise visit of some kind”.
Florida remained one of the strongest states compared to last year, with Illinois and California and New York sales picking up in the last two weeks.
“Consumers want to get back to celebrating as they used to in the on-premise,” Crompton said, adding that research showed that 15% of all consumers are now willing to spend more “drinking out” than they were pre-COVID.
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*The term “on-premise” refers to establishments licensed for the sale and consumption of alcohol on the premises of the location. Conversely, “off-premise” refers to retail locations that are able to legally sell alcohol for personal consumption.
