Leesburg, VA — On-Premise Traffic: Traffic to on-premise had a difficult start to the year, with year-over-year traffic at -2.3% in 1Q14 and -2.0% during the 4-week period ending 4/20/14, but has since improved to -1.5% during the 4-week period ending 5/18/14. After an unusually harsh winter season that hurt traffic and volume trends throughout on-premise, the 4-week period thru 5/18/14 could be a sign that on-premise trends might finally start to improve – although one month doesn’t make a trend.
- Beer: The beer category also had a very difficult beginning of the year, with volumes at -4.6% during 1Q14 and -4.7% during the 4-week period ending 4/20/14, but improved to -4.1% during the 4-week period ending 5/18/14 [beer volumes are -4.7% year-to-date]. However, the beer category continues to be outpaced by spirits and wine, and has lost 0.9 share points of total alcohol volumes thus far in ’14. ÔÇ¿
- Spirits: The spirits category had a soft start to the year, with volumes at -1.0% during 1Q14 and -0.9% during the 4-week period ending 4/20/14, but improved to -0.5% during the 4-week period ending 5/18/14 [spirits volumes are -1.0% year-to-date]. Given spirits’ out-performance relative to beer, spirits has gained +0.7 share points of total alcohol volumes thus far in ’14. ÔÇ¿
- Wine: The wine category also had a relatively weak beginning of ’14, with volumes at -2.5% during 1Q14, but has since improved to -1.1% during the 4 weeks thru 4/20 and -1.4% for the 4 weeks thru 5/18 [wine volumes are -2.2% year-to-date]. Given wine’s out-performance relative to beer, wine has gained almost +0.2 share points of total alcohol volumes thus far in ’14.
About GuestMetrics LLC
Similar to what IRI does in the off-premise, GuestMetrics gathers data from the Point-of-Sales (POS) systems from restaurants and bars across the United States. GuestMetrics collects check-level data from over ten thousand locations closely representative of the broad on-premise sector across geographies, and with respect to the make-up of casual dining, bars/clubs, fine dining, and lodging. GuestMetrics turns billions of raw transactions into intelligible information that is transforming the business operations of everyone from the independently-owned bar/restaurant on the corner, to multi-national chains, to the food & beverage companies that supply them. Please visit www.GuestMetrics.com for more information and to schedule a free demonstration.